contents

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter
Six

Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter
Seventeen Chapter Eighteen

To the Panama-Texas Connection

With thanks to Bruce Coville, Debra Doyle,

Jim Macdonald, and Sherwood Smith-

who built the planet.

Ivy Books

Published by Ballantine Books

Produced by Butterfield Press, Inc.

133 Fifth Avenue

New York, New York 10003

Copyright © 1988 by Butterfield Press, Inc.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, a
division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by
Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

All the characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to
actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Cover illustration by Bob Eggleton

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 88-91131

ISBN: 0-8041-0201-5

Manufactured in the United States

First Edition: December 1988






CHAPTER ONE:
============



Sky Ride
========


Sean Matthews stood at his father's right-hand side, waiting for the
elevator that would carry them into the sky. Because it was morning, and
they were facing north, the sixteen-year-old was in the older man's
shadow.

Five minutes dragged by. Sean began tapping his foot but stopped when his
father turned to glare at him.

The elevator arrived. Governor Matthews stepped in. Sean followed him.
Six other people came behind them: the official greeting team that would
welcome the newest batch of colonists to arrive on Gauguin.

Once inside the elevator, Sean chose to face the clear wall. Most of the
adults, however, chose one of the opaque walls-in order to avoid seeing
what was about to happen.

Sean nudged his father and pointed to a trio of

theskies pressed against the fence. The large, lizardlike animals were
watching the proceedings carefully, their amber eyes wide with interest.
Governor Matthews scowled. When the colonists first arrived the theskies
had been terrified; now they were so friendly they were becoming a
nuisance. The fence around the loading dock had been erected specifically
to keep the theskies from getting entangled with the elevator mechanisms.

Sean heard the door close behind him. By craning his neck and squinting,
he could just see the absurdly slender cables that would guide and
support the elevator on its trip. Though he couldn't see them more than
an arm's length past the elevator, Sean knew the cables stretched
thousands of meters into the sky to a satellite locked in an orbit
precisely matching Gauguin's daily rotation. Even though the satellite
traveled over a thousand kilometers per hour, it always remained directly
over the loading dock.

Technically, this was a "geosynchronous satellite." But Spacers referred
to them as "flyspecks," because from space they looked like flyspecks on
a globe.

The elevator began to move. Looking out, Sean fixed his eyes on the
ground. Soon the surface of the planet was several meters below him and
receding fast. His stomach began to flutter. He glanced over his
shoulder. Only one of the adults had turned to look through the clear
wall. The man's jaw was set, but his face seemed to

have gone pale under skin that was usually the typical amber-honey color
to which the human race had blended itself over the last five hundred
years. The man nodded at Sean, then shifted to face the blank wall.

Sean looked straight out into the sky and fought back a wave of
dizziness. He began to review the way the elevator worked, a trick he
used to help himself through this part of the ride. He envisioned the
four slender but enormously strong cables linking the satellite to the
loading dock, making it possible for an "elevator" to climb into space
without the tremendous burst of energy it took for a conventional rocket
to escape the pull of the planet's gravity.

He turned and looked at the indicator above the door. Two thousand meters
and still climbing. Looking back out over the planet, undoubtedly the
most beautiful he had ever seen, Sean fought to keep himself from loving
it. He had done that too many times before, on too many worlds. When his
family moved to Gauguin, Sean had vowed not to let himself to be hurt
that way again.

Who am I? thought the girl. The question scared her. She really ought to
know who she was.

Maybe if she could see something it would help. She tried to open her
eyes, but they wouldn't work. She tried again. When they still wouldn't
open she started to scream, only her mouth wouldn't work, either. Nothing
came out.

She tried to move an arm, a hand, a finger. Anything. Nothing happened,
not a single twitch. It was as if she had been bound with rope from head
to foot.

A wave of panic surged through her mind. But before it could overwhelm
her, a soft voice began to whisper soothing words in her ear. "Good
morning, Clea. Please relax while you wait for your body and your memory
to reactivate. You are safe and well. I repeat, you are safe and well.
You will see your family soon. All of you are safe and well."

Clea! That's who I am. Clea Tourni. Her panic began to subside. At least
she wasn't dead-or even alone, which at the moment seemed worse.

"You have been asleep for over two months," continued the voice. "Now you
are starting to wake. It will take some time, for you have been in a very
deep sleep. When you can move, press down with your right hand. Someone
will come to help you. Please relax. You are safe and well."

Clea forced her eyes open again, long enough to see a curved sheet of
clear blue material. She realized it was the last thing she had seen
before falling asleep, and suddenly remembered where she was: on a
starship bound for Gauguin, the planet her family had agreed to help
colonize.

Oh, hurry! she thought to her body. Hurry!

Suddenly her right foot began to tingle. It was sharp, almost painful,
and she decided her body could take its time waking up after all. But the
process had begun. It felt like the pins and nee-

dies she experienced when she sat on her leg the wrong way. Only this was
a thousand times more intense, like a wave of liquid fire rolling up her
side, sweet and hot and electric but just too powerful to bear. She tried
to scream again, but her mouth still wasn't working.

Hold on, she told herself. You can make it. They warned you waking up
would feel like this.

Ah. That was good. Her memory was coming back. She let her mind drift
back, first to the les* sons she had taken to prepare for the journey
through hyperspace, then to the pictures of Gauguin itself: the black
sand beaches and glowing seas, the soaring mountains and great jungles
had been truly spectacular. As the instructor had said-any planet so
beautiful the advance team decided to name it for one of Old Earth's
greatest artists couldn't be all bad.

Clea smiled as she remembered the instructor. / wonder if there'll be
anyone that cute on Gauguin.

Goh-gaan, she reminded herself, determined not to be marked as an
outsider by saying the name of the planet incorrectly.

Suddenly her left side began to tingle. More fire rippled through her.
She lurched in response, realized that she could move, and pressed down
with her right hand.

Seconds later the blue shield rolled back, and she found herself looking
up into the greenest eyes she had ever seen.

"Good morning! And welcome to Gauguin-or

more precisely, the space above Gauguin. I hope you slept well."

Clea nodded, thinking it was unfair of them to send a boy who looked like
this to wake her from a two-month sleep. She wondered what her breath
smelled like.

"Do you want to try standing?" asked the boy. She nodded again, thinking
that if this were a fairy tale, he would have had to wake her with a
kiss, which might not have been a bad idea. The boy touched a button at
the side of her sleeping case, and the edges folded down like the petals
of a drooping flower. He held out his hand and helped her to a sitting
position. She tried to stand, but the room started to spin, and she fell
back onto the bed.

"Whoa!" laughed the boy. "Give yourself a little time. Your body's lost
the habit of being vertical. Here, put your head between your knees for a
minute."

Clea did as she was told, not caring how undignified she looked in front
of this strange, handsome stranger.

Suddenly her stomach rolled over. No! she thought desperately. Don't let
me be sick. Not now. Not here.

With relief she realized that as queasy as she felt, there was nothing
for her to throw up. Her stomach was totally empty.

A voice nearby distracted her from her troubles. "Good morning, Mrs.
Tourni," said a pleasant-sounding young woman.

Good. Her mother was awake. Clea lifted her head, thought better of it,
and put it back between her knees.

"Don't rush yourself," said the boy beside her. "Take a few slow, deep
breaths. Then I'll give you some medicine to counter some of the side
effects of your long sleep."

Clea nodded and did as the boy said.

"My name is Sean," he continued, as she practiced the deep breathing.
"Sean Matthews. I'm part of the welcoming team-mostly because my father
is a local big-wig."

She glanced up. He flashed her a dazzling smile.

"Anyway," he continued, "I'm glad you're here. We've spent a lot of time
getting ready for new settlers over the last two years. Once the
construction program was going full tilt, we had lots of buildings but no
one to live in them. Very depressing. It will be good to have them filled
with real human beings. Especially pretty ones like you."

The unexpected compliment disrupted Clea's breath pattern. "You're taking
advantage of me," she murmured, lifting her head again. Good-the room
held still this time, and her stomach didn't do more than flutter a bit.

She examined her "prince" more closely. He was tall and slender, with
deep green eyes and hair as black as space.

A familiar rumbling noise to their right informed Clea that her father
was awake. He had

been making that sound when he woke for as long as she could remember.
"Hullo, Daddy!" she called. "Sleep well?"

"Mmmprhh grzznichh," muttered a gravelly voice.

Sean smiled. "Does he always sound like that?" "That's his happy noise,"
said Clea. "You don't want to be around on a bad day."

Fifteen minutes later the entire Tourni family was on its feet. With her
parents on one side of her and her little sisters, Andrena and Sara, on
the other, Clea felt ready to walk to the observation deck to take a look
at their new home. To her delight Sean excused the other "awakeners" and
offered to stay with the family until they finished getting their
bearings. She walked beside him as he led them down a long, curving
corridor with smooth blue walls.

Sean glanced sideways at Clea as they walked along the blue corridor. She
was about ten centimeters shorter than himself, with honey-brown hair
that rippled halfway down her back-about the same color as Zach Yamoto's,
but much more attractive on Clea than on that skate. Her eyes held flecks
of brown and amber and gold, as if they had been designed to go with her
hair. Sean wondered if the Tourni family was into genetic engineering, or
if Clea's beauty was just the luck of the draw.

When they reached the observation deck, Sean heard the Tournis make the
same involun-

tary sound-a quick little intake of breath-that he had heard from almost
everyone he had escorted to the deck. He understood. The captain of the
starship had drawn away the opaque shielding to reveal a clear wall two
meters high and fifteen meters wide. To stand here with no lights behind
you was to stand on the edge of space. A single object dominated the
viewing wall: the green, blue, and white sphere that was Gauguin.

Clea grabbed Sean's elbow. "It's beautiful," she whispered.

Sean smiled. "You ain't seen nothin' yet," he answered.

Gauguin was indeed beautiful. Of all the habitable worlds the human race
had found in the hundred years since the starship drive had made
colonization of the galaxy possible, it was said that Gauguin was the
closest to what Earth had once been.

In fact, many people thought Gauguin was even more beautiful than Old
Earth, although it was considered "politically incorrect" to say so.
Unlike most planets discovered so far, Gauguin had plenty of water. A
great, interconnected ocean circled the globe; all three continents held
scores of huge inland lakes tied together by mighty rivers; and almost
everywhere, lesser bodies of water-minor lakes and rivers, ponds and
streams-could be found in abundance. Only at the polar ice caps and in
three small desert areas was liquid water scarce.

Looking down at Gauguin, Sean felt a thrill of excitement at all there
was to explore and discover, all the mysteries that might be waiting for
them down there. He clamped down on the feeling the moment he identified
it. Let others love it if they wanted. He couldn't afford that luxury.
Gauguin was his fifth planet. He had no reason to think it would be his
last.


CHAPTER TWO:
============



The Restless Planet
===================


Zach Yamoto whistled contentedly as he ambled along the path to the
Greendomes. The trail bordered the Tati, a small river that ran through
Gauguin's first city, Ambora. Zach enjoyed the sound of the river
splashing along beside him, and when he came to a small bridge he felt an
almost irresistible urge to sit and dangle his feet for a while. He
checked his watch. Good! By his calculations he had fifteen minutes
before Grumps would consider him seriously overdue. To Zach's way of
thinking, that changed mere desire into something resembling a moral
obligation. "Definitely time to dangle," he said, slipping off his
sandals and sliding his legs over the edge of the bridge. His feet came
within inches of the water. He was wearing a shortsleeved boorman, the
one-piece outfit favored by many in Ambora's semitropical climate. A
light breeze

played through his shoulder-length brown hair. The rays of Gauguin's blue
sun felt good on his bare arms and legs, which were the color of coffee
mixed with milk.

It was a beautiful morning, made even more so by the fact that he had
managed to skate through the first half of the day's drudge without
actually doing anything he didn't want to.

He gazed down over Ambora. The five major domes of the city seemed to
glow in the midmor-ning sunshine. Beyond them the great blue-green sweep
of Sanjo Bay was joined by the laughing waters of the Tati. Beyond the
bay, stretching endlessly into the distance, lay the great Kartai Sea
itself.

Zach felt a great wave of contentment overwhelm him. After the incredible
crowding of Earth, it was hard to believe his family had actually ended
up in a place this beautiful. He used to resent the time his father spent
on his job, but if this was the final reward, maybe it had been worth it.

His reverie was interrupted by a quufer scuttling across the bridge to
nestle in beside him. Though the first settlers claimed the quufers had
once been shy, like the theskies, they were now so friendly they were
nearly always underfoot.

Zach smiled and ruffled the creature's scales, which were so long, thin,
and soft that everyone had initially thought they were hair.

"Kwoo," said the quufer, making the noise that had given the species its
popular name. "Kwoo."

"What are you doing out here, fella?" asked Zach. He used the term
"fella" lightly, since no one had yet figured out how to determine the
sex of a quufer.

"Kwoo," responded the quufer, hunching into itself so that it became
about the size and shape of a stack of dinner plates. The skin beneath
its transparent scales grew dark, indicating contentment.

Human and quufer sat in companionable silence. Zach was just thinking
that he should get moving when the quufer uttered a small shriek and
turned bright green, the color of alarm. It stretched to its full length,
about the distance from Zach's wrist to his shoulder, then raced away,
its tiny legs scrabbling against the wood of the bridge. Zach watched in
astonishment as the creature dove into the bushes at the edge of the
path, where its green scales blended so effectively with the tropical
foliage that it disappeared almost instantly.

"Now what was that all about?" he said to no one in particular. He
wondered if the quufer had heard something he hadn't, something it
considered a potential threat. The creatures were known to have
incredibly acute hearing, better even than humans wearing amplification
implants.

Shaking his head, Zach slipped into his sandals. Still trying to decipher
the quufer's strange behavior, he returned to the trail leading to the
Greendomes.

A door slid open as he approached the main dome. Zach stepped through and
followed a corridor past the offices to the growing rooms, where he
spotted Sean Matthews using an electronic clipboard to record the level
of certain chemicals in the sprouting tanks. From the way Sean shook his
head when Zach entered, it was clear the dark-haired boy was wondering
how Zach managed to skate out of work so often.

Since he knew they would be in the same cohort when school started, Zach
decided it would be smart to try to keep things flowing. "Been out
procuring a vital chemical," he said, holding up the small bag he was
carrying. "We were nearly out of it, so Grumps sent me to Central Storage
to pick up some more."

"Nice job," said Sean, looking at Zach closely. "How did Grumps happen to
choose you?"

Zach hesitated. "It's part of my system," he said at last.

"System?"

"Well, it's only a system now. But I'm hoping to refine it to the point
where I can consider it a science. I'm going to write a book: Zach
Yamoto's Complete Guide to Skating."

Sean made a face. "Skating" was the practice of trying to get out of as
much work as possible. He had watched Zach long enough to know that the
guy was a master skate. Having been brought up by parents who emphasized
civic duty above everything, Sean found Zach's attitude pretty
distasteful.

"So how did you manage it?" he asked again.

Zach shrugged. "As soon as I come in, I make it a point to check the
supplies. Usually we have plenty of everything. But about once a week
we're low enough that I can convince Grumps to send me out for
replacements. Since I'd rather be outside than in here, I consider that a
score."

Sean nodded, and turned back to his clipboard. But Zach didn't go away.
"I hear you were part of the welcoming committee two days ago," he said.
"Now there's a job I'd like! Traveling up to the High Station when the
starships come in, checking out the new arrivals. Not bad, if you ask me."

Sean grunted.

"So," said Zach, "anyone 'interesting' aboard?"

Sean smiled in spite of himself. He knew what Zach was really asking.
Clea Tourni definitely classified as "interesting."

"At least one," he conceded.

"So?" urged Zach.

Sean laughed. "Why should I tell you? Who wants to help the competition?"

Zach shrugged. "I thought you were tied up with Philippa Bidding?"

"We've gone out," said Sean cautiously, not mentioning that Philippa was
supposed to meet him here at the end of his shift.

Sean had met Philippa the same way he met Clea Tourni; on a welcoming
mission. She was very attractive, in an exotic sort of way, with skin and
hair that were almost white. But unlike Clea,

who seemed warm and friendly, Philippa was reserved and distant. Sean
found her company pleasant enough, yet somehow they never really seemed
to connect. An evening with Philippa often left him feeling more lonely
than an evening spent by himself.

And yet on one or two occasions, he had seen another side of her, as if
she were letting go of something, dropping some kind of mask. When that
happened, Philippa Bidding lit up in a way that was altogether different
and altogether dazzling.

Sean had never had this kind of trouble with a girl before, and he didn't
know what to make of it.

Nor was he about to discuss it with Zach Yamoto.

"Have you seen the newest topo maps?" he asked, hoping to change the
subject.

"Boy, have I!" said Zach. "Did you notice that cave system they project
about a hundred klicks south of here? I'd give anything to explore that.
How about you? You like that kind of thing? I'd bet a week's ration
credits it'll be two or three years before they get around to it. Maybe
we could be the first."

Zach's enthusiasm was contagious- dangerously so, as far as Sean was
concerned. He had no wish to talk about plans for something that probably
wouldn't happen until his family was getting ready to ship out to the
next planet.

Fortunately for Sean, Zach changed the subject on his own.

"Not bad!" he whispered, staring at the doorway. "Is she the one you met
on the ship two days ago?"

Sean turned toward the door and saw Clea Tourni standing in the entry
with a slip of green paper in her hand. She looked confused, but her face
lit up when she saw Sean.

"Hi, Sean," she said, walking over to where the two boys stood. "I didn't
know I'd find you here."

Zach, standing behind her, rolled his eyes in a clear indication that as
far as he was concerned, some guys had all the luck. Sean took the hint
and introduced him to Clea.

"You on drudge here?" asked Zach, glancing down at the green paper Clea
was holding.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked.

"Drudge," said Zach. "You know, your 'voluntary' community service."

Clea smiled. "We call it 'harness duty' where I come from," she said.

"And where is that?" asked Zach.

"Galahad," said Clea.

"Ah, the Arthurian system," said Zach. "Some of those early star-hoppers
were real romantics."

"I liked it there," said Clea defensively. "Where are you from, anyway?
You talk funny."

It was Zach's turn to laugh. "Milady, what you are hearing from my lips
is the original version of Earth Standard. Anything else is a local
variant."

Clea's eyes went wide. "Are you really from Earth?" she asked in
astonishment.

Zach nodded smugly.

"But I thought that was supposed to be the best planet in the galaxy. Why
would anyone want to leave?"

"You're the victim of rumors," said Sean. "The Earthies have nearly
destroyed the planet, and everyone knows it."

"Wow," said Zach. "That's heavy talk from someone whose father works for
the Planetary League."

Sean started to say something, then stopped. "I've got to get this
finished," he said, glancing down at his clipboard."You seem to have some
spare time. Why don't you introduce Clea to Grumps?"

"Gladly take I the Galahadian," said Zach. "This way, if you will,
milady."

Clea followed Zach between the long rows of clear plastic sprouting
tanks. She turned back to say something to Sean, but he was already
immersed in his work.

They found Grumps two domes over. He was a slender man, a little stooped,
taller than Clea, but shorter than Zach. He had kinky black hair,
liberally sprinkled with gray, and dark brown eyes flecked here and there
with bits of orange. Deep lines ran from the sides of his noise to the
corners of his mouth, and his scowl looked like it had been permanently
carved into his face.

"So you're the newbie," he growled, when Zach introduced Clea.

"Y-y-yes sir," stammered Clea.

"Well you've picked a fine one to hang out with," he said, gesturing
toward Zach.

Zach smiled benignly, as if he had just received a compliment.

"I just met him, sir," said Clea. Instantly she wished she could take
back the words. She felt like a traitor.

"Well, come on," said Grumps. "I'll show you around. You-Yamoto. Get back
to work."

"I was just on my way," said Zach, a statement so obviously untrue that
Clea couldn't help but laugh.

Grumps snorted and gestured for Clea to follow him. "We have seven
greendomes in this complex," he said, as Clea scurried to catch up with
him. "As you probably know, the Planetary Settlement Act requires us to
grow all our food in domes for the first five years."

"No," said Clea. "I didn't know."

He looked at her in surprise. "Where are you from, girl?" he asked.

"Galahad."

"Ah," he said, "one of the older worlds. By the time you were born you
wouldn't have had to worry about this sort of thing. But here we have to
be very careful about tampering with the basic ecology of our planet.
Other than humanity and its attendant microbes, no alien life forms can be

released without an environmental-impact study."

"Why?" asked Clea. "I don't see what harm growing a patch of peas can do."

Grumps snorted again. "Didn't you ever hear about what happened on
Plessius II?"

Clea shook her head.

"It was one of the first worlds colonized. The fools planted a new
variety of squash, all excited because it was so hardy. Hardy is right.
It turned out that the growth of the vines was stimulated by unusual
trace elements in the soil, and their resistance to disease was jacked up
by a native microbe. The damn things grew so well it was almost
impossible to kill them! And they spread so fast that within three years
they were starting to squeeze out a lot of native plant life-including a
certain fern that provided the only hatching grounds for an insect that
just happened to be the primary pollenator for several important plant
species. No pollenation, no seeds. No seeds, no new plants. After that,
it was like dominoes falling down. Those squash raised hell with the
entire ecology. Within twenty years the idiots who planted them had
managed to wipe out or seriously endanger over twenty thousand species of
plants and animals."

"I see," said Clea, overwhelmed by the image of so much destruction from
such a simple beginning.

Grumps snorted and led her into the next dome.

An hour later Clea found herself back in the first dome, trying to
separate seedlings so they wouldn't become too cramped as they grew. She
had already broken more than a dozen of the fragile stems, and was
feeling clumsy and frustrated. The fact that when Grumps showed her the
job, he had managed to separate over two dozen seedlings without damaging
a single one did nothing to help her mood. She was still astonished by
the tender, almost loving way his stubby fingers had pulled apart the
plants.

She tried again and made a little noise of frustration as she destroyed
another seedling.

"Having a hard time?" asked a deep, friendly voice.

She looked up and saw Sean Matthews standing beside her.

"I feel like a mass murderer," she said, pointing to the results of the
last half hour's massacre.

"Here, let me show you," said Sean. Reaching past her, he deftly began
separating the plants.

"How do you do that?" she asked.

Before he could answer, the world went crazy. It began with the floor,
which started writhing under their feet like a snake. A noise, unlike any
Clea had ever heard, seemed to fill the air. Soon the rows of sprouting
tanks were vibrating so hard they were splashing their nutrient fluid
into the air.

"What is it?" yelled Clea.

Before Sean could answer, she dove into his arms for safety.


CHAPTER THREE:
==============



Do They Cancel School for Earthquakes?
======================================


It took only a few seconds for the world to begin behaving properly
again. The rumbling faded away. The floor stopped moving. The tanks
ceased their vibration.

As the earthquake subsided, so did Clea's panic. Slowly she became aware
of her surroundings again, including the fact that she was being held by
a pair of warm, strong arms. She looked up and saw Sean Matthews smiling
down at her. She felt her cheeks grow warm.

"I'm sorry," she stammered, "I didn't mean to ... I didn't ... I was
frightened, and..."

Stop babbling! she told herself firmly. She swallowed, and tried again.
"I panicked."

"How convenient," said a sharp, cool voice from behind her.

The expression on Sean's face told Clea as much as the speaker's tone.
She pushed herself

away from Sean and turned to find herself facing a girl who would have
been breathtakingly beautiful, if not for her unnaturally pale skin. Long
white-blond hair cascaded around her shoulders. The only real color in
her face came from her intense, almost electric-blue eyes. A pale,
cream-colored shirt and white shorts emphasized a figure that made Clea
feel inadequate at best.

As she looked at the two of them-Sean, tall and handsome in his light
blue boorman, the newcomer like a princess carved from ice-Clea wondered
how they could be so calm after what had just happened. How often do they
have earthquakes around here anyway? she wondered nervously,

'"lo, Philippa," said Sean casually. "Didn't see you come in."

"Too busy, I imagine," said Philippa, with a hint of a smile. "From the
way the earth just moved, I assume you've discovered the secret of the
cosmic kiss."

Clea felt herself blush.

The confrontation was interrupted by the arrival of Grumps, who came
dashing into the dome with the tails of his lab coat flying out behind
him. "Everyone all right in here?" he cried.

In her hyper-alert state, Clea realized that the concern in his voice was
genuine. Gruff though he might be, the man really cared.

"Just fine," said Sean. "A little shook up is all."

"Get ready for the aftershock," said Grumps,

barely pausing on his way to check the next dome. "Better move outside. I
doubt the ceiling will crack, but there's no sense taking chances."

The three teenagers looked up at the silanna dome, which curved above
them in a mottled blue-green arc.

"No sense taking any chances," echoed Sean. Grabbing Clea by the elbow,
he steered her toward the door, snagging Philippa on the way.

The door's automatic opening mechanism was still functioning. "Lucky we
were only working with seedlings," said Sean. "Otherwise we'd have to be
checked for pollen before we could get out."

They found Zach in front of the next dome over, sitting on top of a large
rock and looking down toward the city. He turned when he heard Sean's
voice. "Doesn't seem to be much damage down there," he reported. "Lots of
excitement, but no domes down."

He stopped speaking as the earth rumbled again. The rock he was sitting
on began to sway.

"Aftershock," said Philippa.

Sean nodded. "Let's hope that's it."

"You three seem pretty calm," said Clea, her own voice edged with panic.
"Does this kind of thing happen often?"

Sean and Philippa exchanged glances. "Not in the past," said Sean. "The
past being only three years, as far as people actually being on the
planet. But we were aware of the possibility. It's just happening sooner
than we expected."

"You mean they brought colonists to a planet, knowing there would be
earthquakes?" demanded Clea.

Sean shrugged. "Every planet has its dangers," he said. "No one expected
this to start for some time yet. There are things that can be done; the
process is already in motion."

"That the official party line?" asked Philippa.

A siren began to sound in the city. "All clear," said Zach. "Guess the
whiz-brains have decided it's safe. Ain't science wonderful?"

"Wonderful," said Clea dully.

"You okay to make it home?" asked Sean.

I'll make sure she gets there," said Zach, sliding down.

"How about you?" asked Philippa, slipping her hand through the crook of
Sean's arm. "Are you ready?"

"For what?" he asked.

She raised one pale eyebrow. "I thought we had a date," she said, her
voice throaty, offended.

"Silly boy," said Zach, "to let a little thing like an earthquake drive
the really important matters out of his head."

Clea was surprised to see that Zach remained standing after the look
Philippa shot him. The foursome said their farewells, awkward but
mercifully brief, and Zach and Clea watched as Sean and Philippa started
down the hill.

"Now there goes a happy couple," said Zach, leaning against the rock.

"I'm not sure what's going on," said Clea. She

realized she was till trembling from the earthquake.

"It's simple," said Zach. "No one else in Ambora is good enough for
either one of them. So even though they're not all that crazy about each
other, they're stuck. Who else could they date?" He grinned at Clea,
taking the edge out of his words. "Ain't romance wonderful?"

"Wonderful," she echoed dully.

Philippa put down her glass and stared at Sean in delight. "The
opening-day speech?" she said in surprise. "But that's wonderful!"

"Are you kidding? I don't want to stand up there in front of all those
kids and tell them how great Bradbury School is going to be. I can't
believe my father volunteered me for this. Everyone will think I'm a
total toroid."

"Well don't make a toroid speech," she said. "Say something important."

Sean snorted. "How can I say anything important in a speech like this?"

Philippa seemed to close in on herself. "I don't know," she said quietly.
"I guess you can't if you don't have anything to say."

Sean sighed and turned his attention to his milkshake which had been
manufactured from genuine, hydroponically grown Vespen ling beans.

Later that evening he walked Philippa to her home, a complex of
blue-green domes not far from his own family's spot on Admin Hill. She

gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and disappeared inside.

He didn't care that she didn't ask him in. As he walked away, he found
himself remembering how Clea Tourni had felt in his arms.

Fifteen hours later Sean was standing in front of his bathroom mirror,
trying to practice his speech. He had spent the night before writing it,
and the floor of his bedroom was still littered with innumerable versions
of the thing that he had run off on his printer, read once, then crumpled
and thrown away in disgust.

He put down the latest, still totally unsatisfactory draft, and stared at
his reflection. He hadn't slept well, and it showed. The whites of his
large green eyes-normally so clear and alert-looking-were filled with
jagged lines that looked like little red bolts of lightning.

"What a way to start school," he muttered, angrier than ever with his
father for sticking him with this job. He didn't even have the
consolation of having a girl friend to turn to for sympathy. When
Philippa had called to give him another pep talk, his sullen reaction had
offended her, and the conversation had turned into an argument. Finally
both of them had clicked off in anger.

He shoved all that out of his head and tried to concentrate on his
speech. If he had to make a fool out of himself by delivering the damn
thing, he might as well do a good job on it. He was about three sentences
into it when the bottles in

the medicine cabinet began to rattle. Still facing the mirror, Sean saw
himself jump a little; his bloodshot eyes opened to about twice their
normal size.

I wonder if they cancel school for earthquakes, he thought hopefully.

His mother came bustling down the hall to ask if he was all right.

"I'm fine," said Sean. "That was just a little burp compared to
yesterday. But 1 bet people are getting nervous. What's Dad have to say
about all this?"

Alison Matthews shrugged. "He left for a meeting with the geological team
early this morning. And I have to leave for a meeting with the other'
architects in about ten minutes. We'll spend the day running simulations
to see just what level of quake the buildings can survive."

Sean knew that his mother and the other architects had done that kind of
work on their computers before any of the buildings had actually been
erected. But conditions were different on every world, and the
silicon-based silanna settlers used for "growing" their houses took on
slightly different properties according to local conditions. The quake
activity would force the architects to speed up their research
program-and possibly slow down the building program. Sean wondered if the
quakes would affect plans for the next wave of immigration.

He followed his mother into the kitchen. She resumed her place at the
table while he punched

a few buttons in the nutrition center. The stuff that poured into his
glass was a compromise: medium tasty and medium healthy. He didn't have
time for anything else.

"All set for your speech?" asked his mother.

Sean grunted. His mood was not improved when he found a little envelope
at his place. It had his name on it, printed in his father's unmistakable
style. He tore open the note.

"Sean: I'm sorry I can't be here to see you off for your first morning at
Bradbury, but this earthquake problem takes precedence right now. Good
luck with your speech this morning. You know I'm counting on you to do a
good job; it's important for the kids to start off with the right
attitude about school.

See you tonight.

Love, Dad"

"What about my attitude?" asked Sean.

His mother laid her hand over his. "This governorship is a big
opportunity for your father," she said. "He needs all the support he can
get- from both of us."

"Yeah, I know," said Sean. "But I doubt this speech is going to make any
difference to anyone except me. By tomorrow everyone will forget what I
said. All they'll remember is that I'm the jerk who stood up the first
day of school and told them how great it was all going to be."

His mother laughed. "Maybe you need to find

another way to phrase it," she said gently. "Come on-we'd better get
moving. I'll give you a lift."

"Thanks, but I think I'll walk," said Sean. Ambora was still a small
community, and most of the others would be walking. At this point he
didn't want to do anything that was going to make him stand out any more
than necessary. Besides, he might run into Philippa-or maybe Clea-along
the way.

Bradbury School was located in the Education Center, one of the five main
civic domes that formed the center of Ambora. As Sean made his way toward
the Tati River, he saw other kids heading toward the school; most of them
were familiar to him by sight, if not by name.

The silanna-built houses nestled like giant jewels among the lush green
foliage of the gentle hills. It was warm already, but they would probably
have a rainstorm later in the day-they had a short storm nearly every
afternoon-that would wash away the heat and cool things down. The breeze
sweeping down from the mountains smelled pleasantly of forest. Except for
this stupid speech, it was a wonderful morning.

He didn't meet either Clea or Philippa along the way, and there was no
one else he felt like talking to. He followed the Tati into the center of
town, where the five big domes clustered around a thirty-foot waterfall.
Two of the domes flanked the head of the falls, the other three were at
the base. All five were connected by curving tubes grown from silanna.

Sean entered the Med Center. Like all the domes, it had a wide corridor
circling the inside wall which provided both access to the inner areas
and a walkway for pedestrians just passing through. Sean followed the
corridor about halfway around, then took an escalator up to the tube that
would lead him over the Tati, to the Education Center.

"To my doom, that is," muttered Sean.

He stood in the middle of the tube. To his left the river was plunging
over the cliff, creating a spray that left little droplets all over the
side of the tube. To his right the river rolled on down to Sanjo Bay,
where it would eventually join the waters of the great ocean, losing
itself all together. Sean looked at the river in envy; right now
disappearing into the Kartai seemed like a wonderful idea. He sighed and
headed for school.

Zach Yamoto spotted him almost as soon as he entered the Ed Dome. With
Clea at his side, he came scurrying over to greet Sean. "Okay, give," he
said. "What's going on?"

"What are you talking about?" replied Sean sharply. He had enough
troubles this morning; he was in no mood for any of Zach's nonsense.

"There's something big going on," said Zach, "and since you're the
governor's son, I figured you'd know what it is. So, what is it?"

"What makes you think there's something big going on?" asked Sean.

"I was just having a talk with old X-Ray Ives," said Zach.

"Who?" asked Clea.

"He runs the school," said Sean. "I'll explain later."

"Anyway," continued Zach, "I was trying to get him to see why I should be
excused from math and history-"

Sean raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Well, it didn't hurt to try," said Zach. "I might have made it, too, if
Mr. Santori hadn't come scuttling up and passed him that note. Ives took
one look at it and told me to scram. From the look on his face, whatever
was in that note was hot news. So-what is it?"

"I don't have the slightest idea," said Sean.

Zach looked crushed. "Space!" he said. "You're as worthless as I am!"

Sean was trying to decide whether to laugh or to punch him when the bell
rang.

"Come on," he said, motioning toward the auditorium. "If it's really that
big, we'll probably find out in there. If not, you'll still get to watch
me make a total jerk out of myself. Either way you ought to have a good
time."

"What do you mean?" asked Clea.

"Just wait," said Sean. "You'll find out soon enough."

A younger student handed them each a folded piece of paper as they walked
through the door. Sean glanced at the program and groaned when he saw his
name.

Dr. Ives was standing near the door. When he spotted Sean he called his
name and beckoned to

him. Sean crossed to join the man. Clea watched Dr. Ives, who was
remarkably tall, bend over and whisper to Sean. The dark-haired boy
nodded and whispered back.

"Well, what was that all about?" demanded Zach, when Sean returned to
where he and Clea were waiting.

"I'm not entirely certain," said Sean. "But you were right about one
thing: whatever's going on, is big-big enough that they've canceled this
morning's program. Since I was supposed to be speaking, Dr. Ives thought
I should know. But that was all he would tell me. Come on, let's find a
seat."

Letting Zach and Clea lead the way, Sean struggled with conflicting
feelings. The first was enormous relief that he didn't have to give the
speech. The second was the certain knowledge, gathered from life on five
different planets, that in almost all cases the bigger the news, the
worse it was.


CHAPTER FOUR:
=============



Caravan to Catalan
==================


Clea looked around eagerly as the other students continued to file into
the auditorium. She envied Sean, who had been here on Gauguin for over
two years. He was used to the place; he had had a chance to get to know
almost everyone.

Despite all the tapes and holoreels she and her family had viewed before
they left Galahad, it seemed like she didn't know anything about Gauguin.
She had seen it. But she wasn't part of it. She felt a sudden, desperate
yearning to be back on Galahad where she belonged.

"You all right?" asked Zach, leaning toward her.

She nodded, wondering how she had given herself away. To her
embarassment, she realized she had tears on her cheeks.

"How long have you been here?" she asked,

more to direct attention away from herself than for any other reason.

"About six months, Earth time," said Zach. "It's been pretty good, so
far. But I've been dreading this day ever since we got here."

"What do you mean?"

"Well this place was pretty good when I arrived. They were still doing
set-up work, not too many people around, no one much interested in what I
was doing. But now that the first round of terraforming is finished,
that's all going to change. Now we're going to be civilized." He
shivered. "Now they're going to start worrying about my education again."

"Don't you want to get an education?" asked Clea.

"Of course I do!" said Zach. "That's why I hate school so much."

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Philippa Bidding. Her
white-blond hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she was hanging onto
the arm of a good-looking boy.

"I'd like you all to meet Arkady Davidov," she said. "Arkady, this is
Sean Matthews and Zach Yamoto and-oh, I'm sorry. I guess Sean never did
introduce us."

Sean moved uncomfortably in his seat.

"My name is Clea Tourni," said Clea, trying to keep her tone as gracious
as possible.

Arkady shook hands with each of them, his face serious and unsmiling.

Clea took the chance to examine the new-

comer. He was a little shorter than Sean, with close-cropped light brown
hair, large eyes, and full, sensuous-looking lips. His khaki-colored
boorman was belted at the middle and equipped with numerous pockets. The
short sleeves and legs-turned up twice to form crisp cuffs about three
centimeters wide-revealed remarkably well-developed arms and legs.

Zach raised an eyebrow. "You must work out," he said.

"Daily," replied Arkady.

"Look, Arkady," said Philippa, squeezing his arm, "there's a couple of
seats over there. You'll excuse us, won't you?" she said, turning to the
others.

"Of course," said Sean.

Zach whistled softly as they walked away. "That must have been a hell of
a fight you two had last night," he said.

"Who says we had a fight?" snapped Sean.

Before Zach could answer the tallest boy Clea had ever seen stopped at
the edge of their row. "Excuse me," he said, pushing in past Sean.
"Excuse me, sorry, excuse me."

Clea watched in amusement as he worked his way toward the empty seat in
the center of the row. He looked as fragile as a house made of cards. She
was half afraid someone would sneeze and knock him over. "Who's that?"
she asked Sean.

He shrugged. "I don't have any idea. The population here has doubled in
the last two months.

I've been on most of the greeting crews, but I've still only met a
fraction of the people coming in."

She nodded. The hum of voices in the auditorium grew quiet as the lights
dimmed and Dr. Ives walked to the center of the stage.

Clea leaned over to Sean. "Why did Zach call him X-Ray Ives?" she asked.

"Rumor has it he can see right into people's heads," said Sean. "Besides,
his eyes glow in the dark."

Clea made a little clicking sound at the side of her mouth to indicate
her disgust.

"I'm not kidding," he whispered. "At least, not about the
glow-in-the-dark part. It happens to everyone who spends too much time on
Alphorion. Philippa's eyes are the same way. It's a little spooky."

Clea found herself wondering how much time Sean had spent in the dark
with Philippa.

Dr. Ives ran a hand over his bald head, which glistened in the overhead
lights. "Good morning, and welcome to Bradbury School," he said. "I feel
this institution is well named, honoring, as it does, one of Earth's
greatest visionary writers. For what we have taken on here is a visionary
task-the settling and claiming of a new home for the increasingly
far-flung human race."

"Oh, spare me," whispered Zach.

"Unfortunately, Bradbury will not open this morning after all."

Zach sat straight up in his seat. "Amazing," he whispered. "That's the
first time anyone ever

actually paid attention when I said that."

"As you all know," continued Dr. Ives, "we have been experiencing a
sudden increase in seismic activity. The problem itself is not
unexpected; the geological team had already begun to work on the
situation. The timing, however, is a surprise to everyone, and the matter
has just been reclassified as a Type A emergency. That means everyone
from the Third and Fourth Cohorts will be working on it."

"Real work!" said Zach.

Sean looked at him in astonishment; the skate actually seemed pleased by
the idea.

Dr. Ives turned toward the edge of the stage and nodded. His assistant,
Mr. Santori, walked on, carrying a long, metallic-looking rod.

"Of course," said Clea. "A Fault Finder!"

"Are you talking about Ives, Santori, or that metal rod?" asked Zach.

Clea shushed him.

"This a Fault Finder," said Dr. Ives, taking the device from Santori.
"Or, to be more precise, a device for locating lines of stress within the
earth's surface. When planted deep enough in Gauguin's crust, these
devices will serve two purposes. First, they will feed our instruments
vital information on the shifting tectonic plates that are causing the
current problem. Second, and even more important, when several thousand
such devices are linked in a network around a major faultline, they can
actually be used to dissipate the stress and energy that lead to major

earthquakes. In the best case, the Fault Finders can completely prevent a
quake. Even in less than the best circumstances, they can often
significantly reduce a quake's magnitude."

Ives handed the Fault Finder back to Santori.

"The long-term plan has always been to plant a network of Fault Finders
in the Lowentrout Fault, which runs along the inner edge of the Catalans.
The long-term plan has just become the short-term plan. The main computer
is doing a third run on the logistical planning right now. We will have
maps, routes, and planting sites by noon, which is the time at which you
are all to be hack here, ready to leave. The people who passed out
programs on the way in will give you packing sheets on the way out. These
will tell you what you need to bring for yourselves, and what will be
provided by the supply house."

Dr. Ives mopped his brow. "I apologize for the suddenness of all this. I
know you are all devastated to learn that your formal education will be
delayed in this manner."

The students began to hoot; Dr. Ives actually smiled as he waited for the
noise to die down. "I think I can guarantee you that within a week we
will be back on schedule. Until then, please take care of yourselves. I
would like to see all of you back here when school opens."

Clea felt a sudden stab of worry. How dangerous was this expedition going
to be?

Philippa was standing in the yard behind her

family's dome, staring at the mountains. Her thoughts were interrupted by
a synthesized voice saying, "Perhaps you should come in now, dear."

Philippa sighed as she turned to her loco. The mechanical child-care
device-an INtegrated LOcal COntrol PARENTAL Information System,
informally called an IN LOCO PARENTIS, and known to every kid in the
Federation as a loco-was waiting behind her with a sweater over its arm.

"I'm all right, loco dear," she said. As she spoke, she knelt and opened
a panel on the loco's side. Reaching into the opening, she adjusted a
wire she had installed some time ago.

"All right, Philippa," said the loco placidly. "I'll see you inside."

Philippa watched in amusement as the loco rolled back into the dome.
Though most kids experimented with reprogramming their locos, very few of
them were as successful at it as Philippa.

The loco gone, she turned her eyes west, then north, following the line
of the Catalan Mountains as they cupped around Ambora. She knew, from
maps and holovids, that the Catalans continued in a northeast line for
about three hundred kilometers until they merged with the Cynthians, a
north-south running range of mountains considerably taller and more
precipitous than the relatively gentle Catalans. The Lowentrout Fault lay
along that line.

"One more thing to do," she said. "One more place to go."

"Do," said a raucous voice nearby, "go!"

Looking around, Philippa spotted the dark brown head of a theskie peering
at her from the foliage. Its orange eyes blinked comically in the
sunshine.

"Oh, come here," she said, holding out her hand.

The theskie trotted out of the bushes, obviously hoping to have its head
scratched. Two meters long from nose to tail, it ran on thickly muscled
legs that supported its rounded body. It held its tiny front legs-or
arms-extended in front of it, as if reaching for something. In many ways
the creature reminded Philippa of pictures she had seen of some of
Earth's ancient dinosaurs.

"I'm glad you guys are so friendly," she said. "Otherwise you'd be pretty
scary." Despite her mood, Philippa found herself smiling.

"Do! Go!" said the theskie again.

Philippa ran her fingers over the theskie's scales. They were almost
feathery in their softness. The dark brown coat was mottled with white
spots. When the theskie lifted its head she chucked it under the chin,
where the color began to soften to the buff tones that covered its belly.

"Yep yep yep," chuckled the theskie happily.

"You guys are crazy," said Philippa.

"Crazy!" agreed the theskie, ducking its long

neck to force its head up under her hand. "Do! Go! Crazy!"

Philippa shuddered. The theskie's words were too close to what she had
been thinking for comfort.

She was so alone here on Gauguin. If only she had someone she could talk
to, someone she could confide in. But she had enough troubles already
without telling anyone why one of the leading families of Alphorion had
suddenly "chosen" to move to a newly opened planet like Gauguin.

"Crazy?" chuckled the theskie happily.

"Oh, go away!" cried Philippa, flapping her arms at the beast. It clucked
in alarm and ran back into the bushes.

Philippa remained in the yard, rubbing her hands over her arms and
staring up into the mountains.

I'm not ready for this, thought Clea, as she approached the Five Domes. I
haven't been here long enough.

She had discussed the matter with her mother, who had assured her that if
she really felt that way she could be excused from the Caravan. But, Dr.
Tourni had also pointed out, to do so would separate her from the other
students at a time when they were forming important friendships. If Clea
didn't go on the expedition, she would be more of an outsider than ever.

So she was going. But she still wasn't sure it was a good idea.

Adjusting the straps on her backpack, Clea tugged down the cuffs on her
blue boorman and made her way to the edge of the crowd gathered outside
the domes.

"All set?" asked a friendly voice.

She turned and saw Zach Yamoto smiling at her. "I think so," she said
cautiously. "I'm feeling kind of nervous."

"Don't," said Zach "It'll be fun."

"Some people have a strange idea of fun," said Sean Matthews, strolling
up beside them. Despite his words, the look on his face told Clea that he
was enjoying this, too. Besides, she remembered, he was off the hook
about giving that speech. No wonder he was looking so relaxed and happy.

She started to ask him where Philippa was, then thought better of it.
Before the silence could become uncomfortable, a loud voice came booming
over the crowd.

"This is Governor Matthews speaking."

Clea looked at Sean. He rolled his eyes.

"I appreciate your cooperation with Operation Earthquake," the governor
continued. "I know many of you have interrupted other important work to
participate."

"Not me," said Zach.

"They're not just sending the goof-offs," said Sean.

"They're not?" asked Zach, sounding surprised.

"Shhh!" hissed Clea. "I want to hear Sean's father."

Governor Matthews was in midsentence. "-fifteen hoverbuses, with twenty
people each. Teams will work about five kilometers apart, planting Fault
Finders according to maps worked out by geologists on the main computer.
You will receive further instructions as you travel. If those students in
the Third Cohort will move to the south side of the Plaza, your
instructors will start boarding the buses. Students in the Fourth Cohort,
please move to the north."

Clea walked with Sean and Zach to the south side of the Plaza.

"Greetings, heroes," said a youngish man, speaking into a pocket mike.
"My name is Marc Oblitt, and, assuming we make it back here alive, I'll
be teaching some of you history next week. For now, I'm unit leader.
There's about a hundred and thirty of you here. We've filled the
remaining spots with scientists, teachers, and a handful of volunteers.
I'm going to load the buses by teams, which have been determined
according to some mysterious ritual performed by three geologists, a
shrink, and a computer. Ours is not to reason why, but simply to plant
Fault Finders. When I call your name and bus number, please board as
quickly as possible."

Clea listened intently for her name. To her disappointment, neither Zach
nor Sean was on her bus. To her irritation, they were both on the same
bus as Philippa.

On the other hand, Philippa's friend Arkady was on her bus, a fact she
didn't realize until he broke in on her bad mood by asking if he could
sit with her.

"Please do," she said, moving her pack onto her lap.

Arkady piled into the seat next to her.

"So, what planet are you from?" he asked.

William Whitehorse Mornette, nearly two meters tall and still growing,
folded himself uncomfortably into the last seat left on the bus. He sat
with his eyes fixed straight ahead. His heart was beating wildly in his
chest. This entire situation filled him with dread.

I should have stayed home, he thought. / could have gotten out of this if
I had really tried. I should have tried.

He closed his eyes and imagined himself back on Acedium, where the
terrors of the world were kept out by domes, and gravity was what it
should be-which was to say about one sixth of what it was here.

His father had painted Gauguin as a new paradise.

Will felt like he had been given an invitation to hell.

The fact that his loathsome half-brother was on the same bus only made
things worse. Paul shouldn't even be in the Third Cohort; he was too
young. Being so brilliant, he had been pushed ahead, uncommon in an
educational system that

had been designed to make room for especially bright kids.

The bus started to move, quickly leaving the city behind.

"There's the Gandria road," said the driver, a dark-haired professor
named Katya Kovitch. She was pointing off to the left. "The Gandrians
will be sending out some teams, too-though not as many as we are, of
course."

Will looked in the direction she had pointed. Gandria, the only other
settlement on Gauguin, was really more of a mining town than a city; its
population was much smaller than that of Ambora. Even so, he found
himself looking over his shoulder until the Gandria road was out of
sight. When it disappeared, he felt like they had left their last link to
civilization behind. Soon- too soon-only the buses and the dimly marked
road they followed spoke of anything other than a wild, rough planet,
daring them to try themselves against its dangers.

Before long they reached the edge of the true jungle. Will stared in awe
at the enormous trees. Hard to imagine that this has been here,
undisturbed, for thousands of years, he thought.

The great forest closed around them, and Will began to feel that he was
entering a place not only ancient and mysterious, but somehow almost
sacred.

The idea made him shiver.


CHAPTER FIVE:
=============



Over the River
==============


Clea stared through the window of the hoverbus as the forest closed
around them. Thick vines stretched from tree to tree, so numerous in some
places they created what seemed like a second floor in the great
structure of the woods. Hanging clumps of moss dropped from the twisting
branches of thick-trunked trees. Dark shapes crawled along vines or
peered out from beneath umbrellalike leaves.

Clea wished she had paid more attention to those briefing sessions back
on Galahad. What were those animals? And how tall did these trees grow
anyway? She turned away from the window. "It's dark here," she said with
a shiver.

Arkady nodded. "This climate is as pleasant for plants as it is for
people. It will be a constant struggle to keep the forest from reclaiming
Ambora."

She looked at him. "Do you really think so?" she said. "With all our
equipment and technology?"

He shrugged. "Unless we kill the forest permanently, which would be very
bad for us, it will continue to grow. Which means we will have to
continue to fight it."

Clea knew what Arkady said was true. Yet the idea made the forest seem
almost sinister. She decided to change the subject. "Why do you spend so
much time working out?" she asked.

Arkady smiled. "What makes you think I spend a lot of time at it?"

She glanced at his arm; even relaxed, the bicep strained against the
fabric of his khaki-colored boorman. "People don't usually get that way
by accident," she said.

"Actually, they do where I come from," he replied. "The gravity here on
Gauguin is ninety-eight percent of Earth normal-hardly enough difference
from what our bodies are designed for to notice. But Theta, where I was
raised, has a gravity right at the edge of what humans can bear. Just
walking around on my world was like lifting weights."

"It sounds awful," said Glea.

"You get used to it. My problem now is that Gauguin is much too easy. It
feels wonderful, in a way. But if I don't work out every day, I'll lose
my muscle tone before long. Then it would be very hard to go home."

"Isn't your family planning to stay on Gauguin?" asked Clea.

Arkady shrugged. "I do not have to do everything my family does. I am
sixteen years old. In a few years I will be able to apply for planetary
transfer if I want. Then-I intend to go home."

Though he was not angry, or at least not angry at her, Arkady suddenly
looked very frightening.

Clea turned and looked back out the window. At least the forest was on
the other side of the glass.

"You're kidding," said Sean, looking at Zach in astonishment. "You have
four brothers?"

"And two sisters," said Zach. "Can't forget Lilith and Portia. Makes them
cranky."

"And you lived on one planet all your life?"

"Until we came here. Good ole Mother Earth herself."

Sean shook his head. The longest he had ever lived on a single planet was
four Earth standard years-and that had been when he was a baby. He barely
remembered it. He looked out the window of the hoverbus, wondering what
it would be like to have a real home.

After a moment it struck him that even though Zach had been given the
kind of stability he had always wanted himself, it must have made it that
much harder for him when he had to let go of that home. After all, when
Sean's own father had announced that they were leaving Vespen for
Gauguin, he had been irritated, but not surprised.

He had learned early on that if you didn't connect to things, it didn't
hurt so much when you left them behind. What had it been like for Zach,
to leave behind a place he had lived all his life?

"Not as hard as you think," said Zach, when Sean asked him about it. "To
begin with, despite all the stuff you hear about Earth being the cradle
of the human race, the mother of all culture, etc., blah, blah, blah, the
place is a pit. It shouldn't be-didn't used to be. But boy have they
messed that planet up. I couldn't wait to get off."

"I've heard that," said Sean.

In fact he had occasionally repeated the idea himself, though it was
considered somewhat traitorous. It made him sad; he preferred the golden
vision of the holovids to what people were saying Earth had really become.

"Anyway," continued Zach, "this is the time in a guy's life when he wants
some adventure. So when Dad told us we were shipping out for a newly
opened planet, I thought it was a great idea. Besides, it wasn't like I
was really leaving home. When you've got a family as big as mine, home
tends to be anyplace where you're all together."

Sean nodded, thinking that Zach didn't seem to have any idea how
incredibly lucky he really was.

Philippa was just starting to doze off when Marc Oblitt, who was driving
their bus, turned on the

speaker system and began making announcements.

"Keep your eyes open through here," he said, his voice more casual and
friendly than she expected from a teacher. "We'll be passing through some
pretty spectacular areas. Since these hoverbuses are so quiet, you may
get to see some wildlife that isn't quite as forward as the theskies and
quufers."

That got a slight laugh from some of the kids.

"About fifteen kilometers from here the road forks. I don't want you to
get nervous when you see us heading away from the rest of the buses.
Remember, we have to string the Fault Finders over a huge area. For
whatever reason, this crew has been given the privilege of making the
longest trip. Along with one other bus, we'll be heading for an
observation station almost at the end of the Catalans. Lucky us-we'll get
to be real explorers. Big waterfall coming up on our left in about ten
minutes. End of message for now."

Philippa closed her eyes. How had she gotten herself into this? Stupid
question. She knew how she had gotten herself into it. By being stupid.
If she'd had more brains, her family would still be on Alphorion where
they belonged-and she wouldn't be stuck on a hoverbus in the middle of
the jungle on a backwater planet light years away from anything that
mattered. Light years from the boy who really mattered.

She closed her eyes and tensed every muscle in her body. The action was
an alternative to cry-

ing, which she'd be damned if she'd do here on this stupid bus. Without
realizing what she was doing, she began slowly thumping her fist against
the arm of her seat.

"Hey," said the brown-haired girl next to her, who had introduced herself
as Yadira Odetts. "Watch it!"

Philippa stopped her arm in midswing. "Sorry," she said, without opening
her eyes. "I'll be more careful next time."

But she was speaking to herself, not Yadira. She hoped they would reach
their destination soon. Things weren't so bad when she was busy, when her
mind and her hands were occupied.

At a cry of surprise from the others, she opened her eyes. To their left
a large waterfall tumbled into a sparkling pond. Lolling beside it was a
crested, lizardlike creature nearly ten meters long. It watched lazily as
the bus turned off the main road, barely visible in itself, to travel on
an even less well-marked path.

"Too bad they can't cut this baby loose," said Zach. "We would have been
there by now."

Sean nodded. They had been on the road for nearly six hours, and though
the hoverbuses could easily do 120 kilometers per hour on an open
stretch, he doubted they had traveled at more than a third that speed for
most of the journey. He was glad the vehicle had a relief room; otherwise
they would have lost even more time.

They had left the forest and were traveling

along the north side of the valley that separated the Catalans from the
lower hills to the south. The mountains stretched upward to their left.
Only rarely did one of them push its way above the timberline. For the
most part they were carpeted with lush plant life, broken here and there
by stark areas of bare rock.

Sean was pleased by the fact that the other hoverbus that had come this
far was the one carrying Clea Tourni.

The two buses had crossed numerous small streams and rivers without
incident. They didn't even require a bridge for the smaller ones; the
hover mechanisms made it possible to simply skim across the surface of
the water. The wider streams, or the ones with banks too steep for the
hover mechanisms, were spanned by makeshift wooden bridges erected by the
scientists who had first explored this area. The bridges were still in
use by the crews that rotated their time between Ambora and the string of
observatories and communications towers that marched across the top of
the Catalans; it was the crews' occasional usage that had kept the jungle
from completely reclaiming the road.

Sean realized that the small, gentle rivers had lulled their
expectations. Despite Marc Oblitt's warning, none of them were quite
prepared for what they came to next.

They heard it first-a dull, rumbling sound that initially made Sean think
they were experiencing another earthquake. Then they rounded a bend

in the road and saw it-a wide, almost rampaging river that came roaring
down over a huge waterfall on their left, only to disappear into a wide
gorge that cut straight across the rock bed over which they were
traveling. Sean wondered how deep the gorge was. From where he was
sitting, it was impossible to see the bottom.

"Will you look at that!" cried Zach, leaning across Sean to get a better
view out of the window. "Now that's what I call a waterfall!"

Marc slowed the bus as they approached the gorge. "Hate to interrupt
anyone's rest," he said over the speaker system, "but you might want to
get a look at this while you can. You won't see its like very often."

Everyone pushed to the left side of the bus to get a better look at the
breathtaking sight, causing the vehicle to tip to one side. It took a
moment for the balance system to recalibrate itself and correct the tilt.

The gorge was nearly a hundred meters across. A specially constructed
flexite bridge about three meters wide spanned the chasm.

Sean knew the design well. The bridge would be made of two slender poles
spun from the same material used for the sky elevators. About every half
meter a thumb-thick crossbar of the same material would connect the two
main poles. The whole thing was wrapped in paper-thin sheets of the same
material, then treated with a combination of chemicals and ultraviolet
light that would cause the flexite to become extremely rigid.

Sean knew from experience that the flexite poles extended about twenty
meters beyond either lip of the gorge. The four ends would be firmly
anchored. The bridges had been designed for this kind of wilderness use,
and were considered very safe. They only looked incredibly flimsy.

Oblitt slowed the bus as they drove onto the bridge. The other bus was
about ten meters ahead of them. As the two hovercraft crept slowly over
the gorge Sean wondered if the drivers were being cautious, or simply
giving everyone a chance to enjoy the scenery.

Well, the view was spectacular. As they neared the center of the bridge
he looked directly out at the waterfall. It was at least forty meters
wide, and now that he could see the whole thing he realized it was nearly
two hundred meters high-starting a hundred meters above the edge of the
gorge, and stretching another hundred meters straight down to the bottom.
A huge plume of spray shot up from the place where the water landed.

The sides of the gorge were so steep it looked as if they had been cut
from the rock with a huge carving knife. Except for an occasional heroic
vellkul tree, the gorge walls were composed entirely of black and red
rock. The river thundered out from the base of the falls, over a series
of rocky rapids that continued to slope downward at about thirty-degree
angle.

The roar of the falls was so loud that no one

actually heard the earthquake when it started. Sean, who was looking down
at the base of the falls, heard someone in front of him scream. He
snapped his head up and saw a huge chunk of rock, twice the size of a
hoverbus, separate from the lip of the falls and tumble into the gorge.

Now the roar was on them, merging with that of the falls, deafening,
heart stopping. People were screaming, leaping back from the windows, as
if that would protect them.

"Stop it!" bellowed Marc Oblitt's amplified voice."Hold still! I'm having
a hard time keeping us on the bridge as it is."

His words were lost in the panic and chaos that erupted on the bus.
Looking forward, Sean could see the first bus picking up speed, trying to
get across the bridge. To his horror he also saw the far lip of the gorge
grind to the right, pulling the edge of the bridge with it. Huge chunks
of black rock split away from the cliff and hurtled out of sight.

As Sean watched the world fall apart around him he felt like time was
slowing down. He looked to his left; the waterfall actually seemed to be
vibrating. He flinched as the bus lurched forward, tipped sideways, and
lurched again. The bridge couldn't possibly survive this punishment. They
had to get off, and fast.

He wished people would stop screaming. How could Marc think to drive with
this noise going on?

The bus began moving backward.

Sean closed his eyes. His insides felt like they were going to erupt.

Suddenly he heard a snap-high and clear, distinct from the general
rumble-and realized with a sinking heart that one of the flexite poles
had come loose from its anchor.

He could see the bridge begin to warp in front of them.


CHAPTER SIX:
============



The Leader of the Pack
======================


Will Mornette watched in fascination as the hoverbus raced toward the end
of the rippling bridge. He could feel the floating vehicle buck in
response to the movements of the flexite surface. Suddenly the bridge
twisted sideways, sending them sliding perilously close to its right edge.

For a horrible moment Will found himself staring down into the gorge. He
held his breath, certain they were going to go over. Then the driver
managed, somehow, to correct their course. She slammed in all the power
she could. The bus shot forward, past the edge of the bridge, which was
lifting even as they crossed it.

They were on solid ground. Only at that moment the "solid ground" seemed
as precarious as the terrifying bridge had been. The only advantage here
was that there was no place to fall.

Unless, thought Will, a chasm should open underneath us. Even as the
thought crossed his mind, he felt the bus begin to move downward.

He closed his eyes and grabbed for the seat in front of him.

The inside of the hoverbus still on the bridge was absolute chaos. People
were screaming and shoving, even struggling to get out of the bus.

As if that would do them any good, thought Philippa grimly. She turned
toward the window. As the bus rocked from side to side the waterfall and
the gorge walls swung across her field of vision like some insane
holovid. She closed her eyes; it was too terrifying to watch.

Then one of the fools at the front of the bus (why couldn't those idiots
stay in their seats?) stumbled and fell forward. He landed on Marc,
knocking his hands off the wheel and pushing him sideways so that his
head struck the window. Suddenly, the world held still again. But the
driverless hoverbus continued to wobble back and forth on the twisted
remains of the bridge. A hundred meters below, the raging river swirled
around jagged rocks that had fallen from the cliffs and now thrust like
newly sprouted fangs from the surface of the water.

The lead hoverbus settled to the ground with a sigh. Dr. Kovitch pushed
the button marked DOOR and the entire front of the vehicle began

to lift up. The terrified passengers crowded into the aisle.

/ wonder if they think we'll be any safer outside the bus than inside,
thought Clea crossly.

"Come on," said Arkady, grabbing her by the elbow and hauling her to her
feet. "We may be able to help."

She didn't understand what he meant, until they were outside and she saw
that the second bus, the one carrying Sean and Zach, was stuck on the
twisted remains of the bridge.

"What can we do?" she whispered in horror.

"I don't know," said Arkady. "Let's wait and see."

Sean had stayed quietly in his seat throughout the earthquake. He was as
frightened as the others; his heart seemed to be trying to beat its way
out of his chest, and the blood was singing in his ears. But he had also
been aware that there was nothing he could do.

Now he could no longer afford that detachment. Those who had given in to
panic were threatening everyone's lives. If they didn't hold still they
were apt to nudge the bus from its precarious position on the bridge and
send it plummeting into the gorge below.

Despite the ringing in his ears, his senses seemed to be wildly alert-he
had a sense of heightened control, heightened power.

"Shut up and hold still!" he roared. "Now!"

His voice, crisp, clear, and in command, had a

calming effect on those not totally lost to panic. In turn, they tried to
calm the others. The noise began to subside.

"Don't anyone move," Sean ordered, his voice still strong, but no longer
harsh. "Shut him up," he added, referring to a boy two rows behind him
who was screaming hysterically. The girl next to him slapped his face
hard, three times. The boy continued to snivel, but the screaming was
over.

"Zach, get out of my way," said Sean softly.

Zach turned sideways in his seat.

"Now listen," said Sean, moving very cautiously into the aisle that
extended down the side of the hoverbus. "If no one does anything stupid,
there's a chance we can all get out of this alive. For starters, that
means not moving any more than necessary, until we figure out just how
much the bus and the bridge will take."

He had to speak loudly to be heard above the waterfall. But at least
everyone was paying attention now.

"We don't have a lot of time to waste," he added, not saying out loud
what everyone already knew-that there would probably be an aftershock.
"So let's use what we've got wisely."

He pointed to a dark-haired girl in the first row. "Marie-moving slowly,
take a look at Mr. Oblitt."

The girl leaned around the driver's seat. "He's breathing," she said.
"But he's out cold."

Sean nodded. "All right-then things are up to us. And getting him off
safely is going to be one

of our jobs. Everyone hold still. I'm going to see if I can get the front
of the bus open."

... without dumping us into the gorge, he added silently, hoping he could
get through this without making the wrong move.

He took a step forward. The bus tipped-ever so slightly-and then held
steady. He gave the others credit. Everyone flinched, and several of them
let out sharp gasps. But no one lost it.

He took another step. The bus held solid and didn't move again at all
until he made it to the front, when it shifted just a few centimeters.

From his new vantage point Sean could see part of what had happened. The
quake had pulled the east side of the bridge-their destination-sideways
and up. The combination of that motion and the snapping of one pole had
created a kind of curl into which the bus had settled. It wasn't exactly
secure; if the vehicle moved too far in either direction it would tumble
out and down. But the situation wasn't quite as fragile as he had feared.

He snapped on the bus-to-bus communication system. "This is Sean
Matthews," he said, speaking into the hand-held mike. "Can you read me?"

"I copy you, Sean," said a familiar voice.

"Katya! Thank goodness it's you." One of the early members of the
settlement team, Dr. Kovitch had become a good friend of the Matthews
family. "What does the situation look like from out there?"

"Not good, but not impossible. Where's Oblitt?"

"Out cold. Victim of panic-not his own."

Dr. Kovitch cursed. "Can you get at your supplies?" she asked.

"I doubt it. I'd have to get around to the side of the bus to get at the
storage area."

"Figures. Okay, listen. We've got lots of rope. I'm going to have someone
work their way out to you with it."

"Negative," said Sean. "I don't think we should put any more strain on
the bridge than we have to." He looked out the front window. "The tilt of
the bridge isn't that bad. If everyone holds on to the edge they can move
along it with no problem. I'll stay here with Mr. Oblitt. If he's not
awake by the time everyone else is off the bridge, I'll come halfway, and
you can toss me some rope."

Kovitch hesitated. "It's your butt," she said at last.

"I know," said Sean.

He turned around. The others were looking at him, faces serious, eyes
wide and worried. He felt a little sick. Why had he decided this was his
job? What if everything fell apart? He swallowed. It didn't really make
any difference how he felt. He had to go through with this.

"Everyone listen up. I'm going to try to open the front of the bus. Once
it's up, we head out one at a time. Wait for me to call you. Once you're
out, hold on to the edge of the bridge and you

shouldn't have any trouble getting across." He glanced out the window
again. "Be careful. The spray from the falls reaches this far, so it may
be a little slippery. Hold on tight."

He reached past Mr. Oblitt's shoulder and put his finger on the button
that operated the front of the bus. He hesitated, wishing he could adjust
the speed, make the door open slowly. He thought about doing it in
several steps, but decided the on-and-off action might cause unnecessary
motion.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed the button.

Arkady stood between Clea and Dr. Kovitch. He held his breath as the
front of the bus on the bridge began to open.

It was excruciating to watch. The bus was tilted away from them, back
toward the western edge of the gorge. The slight twist in the flexite
surface had kept the bus from sliding over the edge of the bridge and
into the gorge. But the holding effect was tenuous at best. It would take
very little to send the bus-and everyone on it-slipping sideways into the
chasm.

The front of the bus lifted up ten centimeters, twenty, then thirty.

Stop, thought Arkady. That's enough. Don't push it any more than you have
to.

As if whoever was opening the door had heard him, the motion stopped. A
head appeared in the opening, and a girl wearing a blue boorman crawled
out of the bus. She started to stand, then

thought better of it. Lying down on her stomach, she gripped the upper
edge of the twisted bridge. It was only a few centimeters thick. Taking a
deep breath, she began to work her way across the gorge.

Another girl appeared, and then a boy. Soon there were seven people
working their way across the bridge.

Arkady could feel the ripple of tension in his group as the bus suddenly
slipped sideways again. When it stopped and held, it seemed as though
they all relaxed together.

They waited, but no one else appeared.

Zach had watched Sean take charge of the situation in the bus with a
combination of surprise and admiration. If this was one of his daydreams,
he would be the one directing the escape operation now. Instead he was
sitting here, waiting for his turn to get out.

The wait was agonizing. Each person who crawled through the door had the
potential to shift the bus enough to send the rest of them to their doom.
It was all he could do to stay in his seat. It wasn't so much that he
wanted to get out ahead of the others as that he wanted to move for them;
he couldn't stand the fact that his life depended on someone else not
being too clumsy.

He had a feeling Sean was going to save him for last. That's what you get
for being the hero's buddy, he thought. He closed his eyes, wonder-

ing if that would make the waiting easier. It didn't.

When he opened his eyes again he realized that something had gone wrong.

"I can't," said the boy who was now crouching at the edge of the door. "I
can't do it."

"You have to," said Sean gently.

The boy shook his head. Zach could see that he was trembling.

Sean looked desperate. "The others are waiting," he said. "We don't have
time to spare."

"I'm sorry," said the boy. "I can't do it."

Zach could see tears running down the boy's cheeks. He was trying to
figure out some way to help when Philippa spoke up. "I'll go with him."

Zach blinked in astonishment. Philippa?

Sean hesitated. "All right," he said after a moment. "Madden, Philippa is
going to go with you. Can you make it if there's someone with you?"

The boy, Madden, nodded his head. "I think so," he said softly.

Philippa made her way to the front of the bus. Zach realized she was
taking an awful chance. If Madden panicked, did something stupid, he
could easily take her over the edge with him.

He heard Sean whispering to Philippa. She nodded her head and crawled
past Madden. Zach flinched as their combined weight caused the bus to
shift again. He could sense everyone around him holding their breath, as
if they were all trying to will the bus into keeping its position.

The bus held. Zach let out his breath. He didn't care whether the
explanation had to do with will power, physics, or dumb luck. He'd go for
anything that worked right now.

The rest of the evacuation went smoothly. Before long the only ones left
were Sean, the still-unconscious Oblitt, and himself.

Sean turned to Zach. "I'm going to need your help," he said.

Zach nodded. He had been expecting this. He made his way to the front of
the bus.

Sean was bending over Mr. Oblitt.

"Mr. Oblitt," he said softly."Marc. Can you hear me?"

The only response was a groan.

"What do you think?" said Sean."Can we handle him?"

"I'd feel better if we had a rope," said Zach.

"I'd feel better if we had wings," replied Sean.

"Try again," said Zach.

Sean shook Oblitt gently. The teacher groaned and rolled his head back.
"Where am I?" he asked.

"On the bus," said Sean. "Listen, Zach and I are going to try to get you
out of here. Can you help?"

"Dunno."

Sean looked at Zach. "This isn't gonna be easy," he said.

Zach shrugged. "Maybe we can talk him out of a few weeks of homework."

Sean ignored the wisecrack. "Come on. Let's get going before the
aftershock hits."

"You got it, partner." Zach positioned himself behind Mr. Oblitt. Working
together, the boys managed to lift the man out of his seat. Sean crouched
at the opening, trying to figure out what to do next.

"Give me your belt," he said at last.

Zach did as he was asked. Sean slipped the belt off his own boorman and
buckled the two together. He slipped the loop over Mr. Oblitt's shoulders
and then pulled the man's arms through it. Next he crawled under the edge
of the door.


pi "Okay, push," he said, reaching back in and
==============================================


grabbing the belts.

Zach braced himself against the driver's seat and helped guide Mr.
Oblitt's body out through the opening.

He felt the bus begin to shift.

"Have you got him?" he cried.

"Yes! Get out!" yelled Sean.

Zach scrambled for the door. The bus was sliding faster. He knew it was
going to go. Slipping his head under the opening, he wrapped his arms
around Mr. Oblitt's body and prayed that Sean had a good grip on the edge
of the bridge.

He howled in pain as the door scraped over his legs. Staring in horror,
his heart pounding at the thought of how narrowly he had escaped the
deathtrap, he watched the bus pivot sideways. It

stopped at the edge of the bridge for just a moment, teetering hesitantly.

Sean shouted a warning. The weight of the bus was pulling at the bridge,
causing it to tip further sideways.

Zach tightened his grip on Oblitt's legs. Suddenly, as if it had made up
its mind to stop fighting gravity, the bus slipped over the edge and
disappeared into the gorge.

Zach watched the first few moments of the fall. Then he closed his eyes.

When the bus landed, he could barely hear the crash above the roar of the
falls.


CHAPTER SEVEN
=============



Sean and Zach
=============


Sean had his left arm hooked over the upper edge of the twisted bridge.
His left side was pressed against the slick, wet flexite that led like a
slide to the chasm below. He trembled with the effort of holding the belt
that was the only thing keeping Zach and Mr. Oblitt from slipping into
that chasm. His body felt like it was being ripped in two.

The surface of the bridge was slicker than he had expected; the spray
from the falls, though not heavy, was constant, and the flexite was
completely covered with water.

Tightening his grip on the belt, he looked past Zach to where the bus had
vanished into the gorge. "Are you all right?" he called, yelling to be
heard above the roar of the falling water.

"I think so," replied Zach. "My legs are kind of banged up. But at least
I'm not in the bus."

"Not a good place to be right now," agreed Sean. "Can you make it up to
the edge of the bridge?"

"I don't know. Let's see what happens."

Using one hand to keep his grip on Mr. Oblitt, Zach placed the other hand
against the surface of the bridge and tried to pull himself upward. "Not
a chance," he groaned. "This thing is slicker than a Vespen mudwallow."

"Give me a minute!" yelled Sean. Keeping one hand clamped around the belt
that held Mr. Oblitt, he worked his arm over the edge of the bridge.
"Okay," he called. "I've got a better grip. Pull yourself up along Mr.
Oblitt's body."

Zach inched his way upward, hoping Mr. Oblitt wouldn't suddenly lift his
arms and slip out of the makeshift harness by which Sean was supporting
him. When he could reach Sean's arm, which was rigid with the effort of
supporting the three of them, he used it as a brace to swing his body
sideways. On the third try he managed to link his foot over the side of
the bridge. After that it was a relatively simple matter to pull himself
level with Sean. Reaching down, he took hold of the harness to relieve
his friend of some of the burden.

They hung there for a moment, each of them with one arm linked over the
edge of the bridge, Oblitt's body dangling between them. Zach pulled
himself up to peer over the edge of the bridge, and wished he hadn't.
When he looked toward his feet, the stretch of bridge seemed to separate
him from the abyss below. But from this

angle it was a straight drop to the river that frothed and spumed around
the rocks so far below. He turned and looked straight out in the other
direction. The awesome waterfall seemed to fill his view. His boorman was
already soaked with its spray.

"Let's get going," said Sean. "I don't want to be hanging around out here
if there's an aftershock!"

Zach nodded. Tightening his grip on the bridge, he leaned his face
against his shoulder and tried to wipe away some of the spray. "Let's
go," he said.

After a few tries they developed a system: Sean would inch backward along
the bridge, pulling Mr. Oblitt with him, while Zach moved forward,
pushing on the teacher's body with his legs. Once they had the rhythm,
they were able to move along fairly rapidly.

They did pretty well that way until Mr. Oblitt woke up.

Arkady Davidov had been standing at the edge of the gorge, helping people
climb onto the bank once they had crossed the bridge. Now everyone except
Zach, Sean, and Mr. Oblitt had made it over. He turned to watch the two
boys as they struggled with the unconscious man. After a moment he tapped
Dr. Kovitch on the shoulder and said, "We need a rope."

Kovitch turned, irritated at being distracted

from the drama on the bridge. "What did you say?"

"We need a rope," repeated Arkady. "In case they have trouble with Mr.
Oblitt. If I take some rope out to them, we will have a backup system in
case they lose their grip."

The dark-haired professor considered Arkady's proposal for a few seconds.
"No," she said. "I don't want you going out there. We've got three at
risk already. No sense in taking a chance on losing anyone else."

Arkady frowned. "What if there is an aftershock?" he asked. "If things
start shaking, I doubt they will be able to hold onto the bridge and Mr.
Oblitt at the same time. Or what if we lose the bridge altogether?"

Kovitch closed her eyes. "We'll toss them some rope," she said.

Glancing over her shoulder to make sure nothing had gone wrong during
their brief conversation, she led Arkady back to the bus. They dug a coil
of rope out of the storage area and returned to the edge of the gorge.
"They're in trouble!" said a girl. "Damn," said Dr. Kovitch weakly. "We
should have moved faster." Arkady at her heels, she hurried back to the
bridge.

But everything appeared as it had when she left.

"Who said trouble?" she asked harshly. Arkady was surprised to see Clea
step forward.

"I did," she said. "Please believe me. They're in trouble. / can tell."

A cry from the bridge drew everyone's attention. Dr. Kovitch cursed
again. "Arkady," she said, "throw them the rope." "I can't," he said
flatly, handing the rope to her. "My reflexes still haven't adjusted to
this gravity. I would miss. You do it."

"Hold still, Mr. Oblitt!" shouted Sean desperately.

He knew he couldn't blame the teacher. If he had opened his eyes to find
himself stretched out on a slick bridge tilting down to a hundred meter
drop, he would have reacted, too. But the man's startled movement had
nearly pulled the linked belts out of Sean's hand. And holding onto the
belts had nearly broken his grip on the edge of the bridge. He pulled
himself back up.

"You okay?" yelled Zach.

Sean nodded. "How about you?"

Zach's long brown hair, completely soaked by the spray from the falls,
was plastered against his neck and forehead. "I've been better," he said.
"But I'm still here."

"Mr. Oblitt?"

The only answer was a groan.

"What do you think," yelled Zach. "Would it work better if we pulled him
up here, held him by the arms?"

Sean shook his head. "I think we'd have less control," he shouted back.
He didn't add that he was afraid to put any more strain on the make-

shift harness than necessary. He had a stomach-churning fear that if they
pulled too hard, Mr. Oblitt's arms would lift and let the belts slide
over his head. Or, just as bad, they might catch under his chin and
strangle him.

He had no idea what they were going to do when they got to the edge of
the bridge.

As it turned out, Mr. Oblitt had ideas of his own.

"Pull me up," he called after they had traveled another meter or so.
"Pull me up."

Zach looked at Sean. Sean nodded. If Oblitt panicked and started to
struggle it could be fatal for all of them. Better to pull him up to the
edge of the bridge. "Hold tight, sir," he yelled. "Keep your arms clamped
down."

Working in unison, they tugged on the belts.

"Damn," said Zach. "Now what do we do?"

They had pulled the teacher as far as they could with the belts. Sean
hesitated. "Tighten your grip," he said. "I'm going to let go of the
belts and try to get my hand under his arm."

Zach nodded. Glancing past Sean, he spotted something at the edge of the
gorge. "Wait a sec," he said suddenly. "New development!"

Will Mornette watched Dr. Kovitch working with the rope until he couldn't
stand it anymore. "Not like that," he said, pushing his way past several
kids to where the woman was trying to put a loop in the end of the rope.
"You'll strangle them." Without waiting" for permission, he took the

rope out of her hands. His long, nimble fingers moved in intricate
patterns as he quickly created five loops at the end of the rope. "Three
for Oblitt, one for Sean, one for Zach," he said, handing the rope back
to Dr. Kovitch. "We'll have to count on them to figure out how to use it."

She took the coil of rope, stepped to the edge of the gorge, and flung it
forward. The trio on the bridge was perhaps twenty-five meters away. The
harness fell about two meters short, slid along the slanting surface, and
dropped into the gorge.

Cursing, Dr. Kovitch pulled the rope back in, coiling it as it came.

Will watched her, his hands twitching as if he was dying to get hold of
the rope again himself. But when she offered it to him he shook his head
dismally. "You do it," he said. "I don't think I can throw it that far."

He watched her turn and fling the rope out toward the boys. A cheer went
up as the harness landed between them.

"Well done, Dr. Kovitch," said Will. "Now hadn't we better get that
braced around something?"

She handed the rope to Will. He was heading for a tree about five meters
back from the edge of the cliff when the aftershock knocked him to the
ground.

"What are we supposed to do with this?" asked

Sean, when the harness came flying over his shoulder.

"Support system," shouted Zach. "Get a loop around each of us. Then if
the bridge goes, we've still got something to hold onto. The extra loops
are for his legs-to keep him from sliding through if he's not aware
enough to hold on."

Sean nodded. "I'll hold him," he yelled, tightening his grip on the
belts. "You try to get him into this."

"Be careful," muttered Mr. Oblitt.

Zach slipped the last loop on the rope around his own waist before he let
go of the edge of the bridge. Holding on to Mr. Oblitt's boorman, he
lowered himself along the slope, then began working the large central
loop over the teacher's legs. He was glad Mr. Oblitt was aware enough to
help; otherwise it would have been twice as hard. He had just slipped one
of the smaller loops over Oblitt's right foot when the bridge began to
vibrate.

"Hold on!" yelled Sean. "Here we go!"

The aftershock knocked Philippa off her feet.

We've lost theml was her first thought as she hit the ground. They're
gone.

Then her brain began to process what she had seen, what had happened too
fast for her to comprehend at first. Arkady had been standing next to the
rope. When the tremor hit he dove for it, wrapping it around his arm as
he went down.

Ignoring the rumbling earth, she forced herself to her knees.

Arkady was just a few feet away. He was on his knees too, leaning back
away from the cliff. His face was red with effort. The muscles in his
arms were bulging; the veins in his neck stood out as if they were going
to burst.

But he had them.

He had them!

This is it, thought Sean as he saw the bridge split across the center.

They started to fall. The bridge, three meters wide and only a few
centimeters thick didn't fall straight down. Instead, caught by the air,
it flapped and fluttered like a long streamer of paper.

Sean's reflexes took over. Wrapping one arm around the rope that ran past
his shoulder, he rode the bridge down like it was a dying kite. They hit
the side of the cliff hard enough to knock the breath out of him-but not
hard enough to break his grip on the rope.

He looked down. Marc Oblitt's body-half in and half out of the
harness-hung sideways from the rope. His head was about an arm's length
beneath Sean's feet.

Beyond Oblitt he could see Zach, clinging to the rope with both hands. He
was supported by the loop. He had his eyes closed.

Beneath Zach, Sean could see the end of the bridge, then the great drop
to the bottom of the

gorge. He raised his eyes, and saw the other half of the bridge. It hung
down the face of the opposite cliff like a long gray banner.

The thunder of the waterfall filled his ears. He closed his eyes and
tightened his hold on the rope. / wish I had had time to get one of the
loops around my own waist, he thought, leaning his head back against the
slick gray surface of the bridge. Then, to his astonishment, he felt
himself sliding upward.

Will Mornette watched in admiration as Arkady began to back up. How he
wished he had even half that strength!

As soon as there was room between Arkady and the edge of the cliff,
others rushed in to help. Step by step they moved back.

A moment later Sean Matthews appeared at the edge of the cliff.

Eager hands reached out to help him over. Soon Mr. Oblitt appeared, then
Zach Yamoto, who astonished everyone by kneeling down and kissing the
ground three times.

"I knew I should have stayed home," he said, staggering to his feet.


CHAPTER EIGHT:
==============



Pesky Theskies
==============


With one bus lost, the kids had to take turns walking and riding. Clea
didn't mind the walking; in some ways it was really more fun than riding.
But the unexpected arrival of a pack of theskies just as it was beginning
to get dark nearly scared her into a coma.

She was walking briskly near the front of the group when the beasts
arrived. She might not have been so startled, had she not been busy
replaying the day's events in her mind. She found herself torn between
irritation and awe at the way Philippa had managed to play up to both
Sean and Arkady after their heroic actions at the bridge.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a rustling in the bushes beside her. She
turned and saw a long-necked creature dart into the roadway. "Gack!" it
said, falling into step beside her.

Clea shrieked and jumped aside.

"Gack!" cried the creature in alarm; it jumped back into the bushes.

Clea heard a familiar laugh beside her. "Don't worry," said Zach. "It's
just a theskie."

"Theskie!" cried a raucous voice in the bushes. Several other voices
picked up the cry. "Theskie! Theskie! Theskie!"

"Sounds like a whole pack of them," said Zach. "They're incredible
mimics."

"Ick!" said a voice in the bushes.

"Are you sure they're not dangerous?" asked Clea. Since her arrival, she
had seen several of the creatures poking around the edges of Ambora. But
she had figured those were domesticated in some way. These were wild
theskies.

"Hasn't been a case of a theskie attacking a human in all the time people
have been here," said Zach. "Annoying them, yes. But none of them have
ever harmed anyone."

As if on cue, a theskie poked its head out of the bushes ahead of them.

"Ackle ackle ackle," it said, sounding cranky.

"Watch," said Zach. He held out his hands in front of him and walked
slowly toward the theskie. It watched him carefully, its amber eyes
following his every moment. When he was close enough, Zach put his hand
on the theskie's head, which was at about waist height. The creature
hesitated for a moment, then pushed up with its head. It made a kind of
chuckling sound in the middle of its long neck.

"Don't encourage them, Zach," said Dr. Kovitch, who was walking beside
them. "We'll have theskies everywhere."

"We will anyway," said Zach. "Unless you want to scare them away."

Dr. Kovitch looked serious. "I don't think you can scare them away
without hurting one of them. And you know how the Planetary league feels
about that."

Zach nodded. A handful of ecological disasters in the early years of the
Planetary Settlement Program had prompted severe penalties for bringing
unnecessary harm to native creatures.

"I agree with those laws," said Clea stoutly.

"So do I," said Dr. Kovitch. "But sometimes I think the League gets a
little carried away in the enforcement. I feel nervous if I swat a bug
these days. And if we don't figure out some way to keep these beasties in
line we're going to have big problems. Here, look at this."

Four or five theskies were walking beside them now. Dr. Kovitch put her
arm around the neck of the one nearest to them, which promptly adjusted
its gait so that it was walking right beside her. She stopped and lifted
its left front leg.

Clea bent over to examine the theskie's foot. It was shaped something
like a human hand, with three long fingers that ended in rather
ferocious-looking claws.

Dr. Kovitch pointed to the inmost finger. "An opposable thumb," she said.
"These hands can

grasp and turn and manipulate almost as well as a human's. If one of
these animals ever manages to get inside our buildings-and I predict
that's going to happen before too much time goes by-just think of the
mischief it could cause, playing with switches and levers."

Clea noticed that despite her ominous words, Dr. Kovitch was stroking the
theskie's neck.

"I'll tell you right now-dealing with theskies is something the human
race is going to have to give a lot more thought to if we really want to
settle Gauguin."

The theskies were still tagging along when Mr. Oblitt and Dr. Kovitch
decided it was time to make camp for the night.

Mr. Oblitt, who was still feeling too shaky to walk, had driven the
remaining hoverbus throughout the afternoon. He had called ahead to tell
the observatory not to expect the group until the following morning. He
had also given them a brief report regarding the incident on the bridge.
In turn the observatory had contacted the colony officials back in
Ambora, who had promised to send additional supplies-and a replacement
stock of Fault Finders-by air.

Clea had changed into a brown boorman with long sleeves and long legs.
When she came out of her tent, she found a spot near the campfire and
watched as Dr. Kovitch pushed a fresh log into the flames. She huddled
closer. The fire provided

just enough heat to counteract the slight chill that had come with
nightfall.

Some trace elements in the wood gave the flames a green tint. A pair of
theskies stood nearby, clucking softly to themselves. The night was
filled with rich, musky smells. Clea saw Sean and Mr. Oblitt stringing an
electronic barrier around the perimeter of the campsite. At least she
would be able to sleep without worrying about wandering wildlife. She
sighed contentedly and leaned back to look up at the two moons.

"Justine and Juliette," said Arkady, who was sitting on a log nearby.
"Pretty, aren't they?"

Clea nodded. Juliette, the larger of Gauguin's two moons, had risen
first. It was nearly full, and the light it reflected from the blue sun
seemed to fill the night with silver. The waxing crescent of Justine was
just starting to show over the tops of the trees. It would remain in the
sky long after Juliette had disappeared.

Dr. Kovitch poked the fire again and turned to Arkady. "I've been meaning
to ask you why you wouldn't throw the rope for me this afternoon," she
said.

Arkady shrugged. "I would have missed."

"I don't understand," said Clea, tucking her feet beneath her. "You're so
strong, why would throwing a rope be a problem?"

Arkady looked embarrassed. "I am very clumsy here," he said after a
moment. "Nothing weighs what it should, and my body still hasn't learned
how to deal with it."

"At least you're over capable," said Will mournfully. "I've got the
opposite problem. I can hardly move here!"

"Where are you from?" asked Zach.

"Acedium. It's one of the dome worlds." He looked up at the wide, starry
sky and shivered. "We never went outside there. It was too dangerous."

"Will would be much happier if his father had never met my mother," said
a small, dark-haired boy sitting at the edge of the circle.

"Shut up, Paul," said Will. His voice was weary, as if he were extremely
tired, though whether he was tired of life in general or just his
stepbrother was hard to say.

"Will hates me," Paul continued cheerfully.

I'm not sure I blame him, thought Clea.

"You look kind of young to be in the Third Cohort," said Zach.

"I'm fourteen," said Paul defensively.

"Yeah, and he finished all the Third Cohort curriculum two years ago,"
said Will. "They just don't know what else to do with him."

"Shut up," said Paul.

This is getting unpleasant, thought Clea, wishing she could sidetrack the
conversation. She started to hum to herself, hoping a song would divert
them. She could have hugged Zach when he joined in. She was even more
delighted when he started to sing the words. He had a wonderful voice! It
was a little high, but very pure and clear.

She matched her voice to his and they took off,

playing with the song, stretching it to see what they could do. The
theskies stirred in their sleep. The fire crackled. Clea and Zach reached
the end of the song, looked at each other, and broke out laughing.

They went through a few more songs, then someone started telling a story
about his sister getting stuck in a swamp on Tieff. Pretty soon everyone
was swapping tales about their old homes. Clea found it sweet, but a
little sad. She realized this was the group's only real bond: they were
all homesick together.

The fire began to die down. Mr. Oblitt and Dr. Kovitch announced it was
time for everyone to head for their tents. Despite some grumbling, it
didn't take long for people to follow their advice.

What a day, thought Clea, as she crawled into the tent she was sharing
with Yadira Odetts. Within minutes Yadira was snoring-a soft, gentle
sound Clea found almost comforting. She laid back and closed her eyes.
She was just drifting of when she received the first message.

Her eyes flew open. She sat up and turned toward Yadira. "Did you-"

But the other girl was still snoring, her breath deep and. regular.
Puzzled, and not a little frightened, Clea lay back down.

She was nearly asleep before it happened again-as if it couldn't come
when her conscious mind was in control.

The message came not in words, but some strange combination of images and
feelings.

Although she had no sense of physical danger, Clea began to tremble. It
was the strangeness of it that terrified her.

Not that what she was experiencing was very clear. She was receiving a
sense of something-something ancient, something beautiful, and something
that ended in great tragedy.

And beyond all that, one other thing-an urgent need, almost a command. It
came to her as a feeling. But if she had been forced to express it in
words, she would have translated it as: Please come. Someone must know.
Someone must bear witness.


CHAPTER NINE:
=============



Drill Teams
===========


"Up, up, up! The sun is shining. It's a beautiful day. We have to get
busy because the world is falling to pieces."

Zach groaned. Dr. Kovitch was entirely too cheerful for this time of
day-whatever time it was. The tent flap rattled again. "Come on," she
yelled, "let's get moving!"

Zach opened his eyes. Sean was just closing the neck of his long-sleeved
boorman.

"Ah, the great skate awakes!" said Sean, shaking his shoulders to stretch
the light green fabric. "Come on, hero. Our public is waiting."

"Don't we get a day off after yesterday?" grumbled Zach. He rolled over
and pulled the edge of his sleeping bag over his head.

"This is earthquake weather," replied Sean. "Take a day off now and we
may not be here tomorrow."

Zach sighed and pulled down the covers. "All right," he said. "Never let
it be said that when duty called, Zachary P. Yamoto failed to answer."

"That's good," said Sean. "Because you've got five minutes before I take
down the tent."

"Your generosity overwhelms me," said Zach. But there was no one to hear
him. Sean had already left the tent.

Zach grabbed a short-sleeved boorman, one of several items that had been
loaned to him by the kids on the bus that had escaped the gorge.

"I've got to speak to Sean about that," he muttered, as he slipped into
the one-piece outfit. "Next time he's going to play hero, he ought to
remember to rescue our clothes, too."

Fastening the boorman, he stepped through the front of the tent, let out
a howl, and dove back in.

It was cold out there!

Three minutes later he tried again. This time he was wearing a
long-sleeved, dark brown boorman.

Sean was standing at the corner of the tent, holding a metal instrument
about the size of baby's forearm. "You're just in time!" he said with a
wicked grin. "I was about to start rolling up the tent."

"Were not," said Zach. "Your pack's still inside."

Sean laughed. "Very good! I figured it would be two or three hours before
you were awake

enough to figure that out. You impress me."

"No talk," said Zach, running his hand through his hair. "Boy hungry.
Feed boy. Boy eat. Then boy talk."

Clea smiled. "Come here, boy," she called. "Food."

Zach wandered over to watch her open packages. "This not food," he
grumbled. "No chocolate."

"Shut up and eat," said Clea.

He didn't have to be told twice.

It was mid-morning when they hiked up the road to the observatory. They
were greeted by two scientists-Dr. Cardell, a slender, gray-haired man,
and Dr. Stemple, a tall, bearded man who reminded Sean of the king in a
picture book he had loved when he was little. The two men wasted very
little time in gathering everyone together in front of the small building.

"The replacement supplies arrived about an hour ago," said Dr. StempJe.
"I would like for us to be on the road within the next hour."

Sean tried to concentrate on what Dr. Stemple was saying, but he was
distracted by the winged creature perched on the scientist's shoulder. It
was not a bird, for it had no feathers; other than blinking and yawning,
it didn't seem to move at all.

Dr. Cardell stepped forward, holding a Fault Finder in each hand. "You'll
be using laser drills to plant these," he said. "Not for the sake of

ease-they're a little too dangerous to use just to save you some hard
work-but for precision. In order for us to get the greatest anti-seismic
effect, we have to make sure each Fault Finder is planted at a precise
depth and angle in relation to the Lowentrout Fault. Marc, would you give
a demonstration please?"

Sean watched carefully as Mr. Oblitt explained how to calibrate the laser
drills. The procedure was fairly complex, requiring the operator to lock
in several different measurements. The drill itself consisted of a
triangular base from which three long arms led up to the smaller platform
where the laser was centered.

When he was finished, Mr. Oblitt stepped away from the drill. Making sure
no one else was nearby, he tapped a code into the remote-control device,
A bolt of amplified light extended from the top of the tripod to the
soil. Suddenly the air was filled with an intense burning smell.

"The Fault Finders are meant to function as a network," said Dr. Cardell.
"Individually, they will not have that much impact. We need the entire
network to ease the pressure causing the quakes and tremors. So it's
important that we get all of them in place as soon as possible. Katya,
will you cover positioning?"

Dr. Kovitch stepped forward. She held a sheaf of papers in her hand.
"Each team will receive a packet of maps and photographs," she said.
"Using high-resolution lenses-and, in some cases, X-ray technology-our
satellite system has

provided clear images of each place where a Fault Finder is to be
planted. Here are some samples."

She handed around some electronic imaging sheets. Sean was impressed. The
picture he received showed a close-up view of a patch of ground that
couldn't have been more than two meters square. The details were so clear
he could count the leaves on the plants. A red circle marked the precise
spot where the Fault Finder was to be planted. On the back of the sheet
was a listing of the coordinates, including depth and angle.

"We've made triple sets of these information packets," said Dr. Kovitch.
"Make sure that you split them up among you. That way if something should
happen to one or even two sets, you'll still have a backup."

She hesitated. "We're also going to be passing out trank guns. Let me
remind you that because we still don't know the biology of Gauguin that
well, there is a possibility the tranquilizer might have a toxic effect
on some animals. You know the legal repercussions of killing a native
life form as well as I do; even if it's accidental, the resulting paper
work can keep you busy for years. And the stigma can last even longer. So
use these only in case of extreme emergency. They should be safe. But
there's no guarantee."

"We'll provide three trank guns per team. We'll have four teams with ten
members each. I'll

head one team. Marc Oblitt, Dr. Stemple and Dr. Cardell will lead the
others."

Clea held her breath while Dr. Kovitch called out the teams. She hoped
she would end up in a group with some of her friends-or at least someone
she knew.

By the time they were halfway through the names, she had decided she
wanted to be part of Dr. Kovitch's team. For one thing, she had a good
feeling about the slender, dark-haired woman with the big nose. For
another, the team had two of her favorite people: Sean and Zach.

In fact, she decided, the only real toroid in the group was that skinny
Will Mornette. He had made the harness, and he might be perfectly decent,
but he was so weak and uncoordinated that out here he was almost a
liability.

Dr. Kovitch continued to call off names. Clea began to get nervous. When
all but six people had been called she began to wonder if it was possible
they had somehow forgotten her altogether. Was she so new on Gauguin that
her name had been left off the lists?

She blinked. Dr. Kovitch was calling her name! She had been so busy
daydreaming she had nearly missed it.

At least she was on the team she wanted. Blushing furiously, Clea hurried
across the clearing to stand next to a quiet, intense-looking boy named
Elken. Trying not to be too obvious, she looked around her. In addition
to Sean, Zach, and Will she had met three of the others: Yadira,

Arkady, and Philippa. The remaining two kids-a girl named Cybill and a
handsome, slender boy named Peter-were strangers to her.

This could be interesting, thought Zach, as he watched Sean and Arkady
position themselves on either side of Philippa. I wonder if anyone is
interested in taking bets on how it will all work out.

With Dr. Kovitch in the lead, the group had just set out on an eastward
path from the observatory. Arkady was carrying most of the Fault Finders.
He had hoisted the bundle over his shoulder as easily as if they were
made of the light, hollow branches of a nockwood tree.

Zach decided to drop back and walk beside Clea. She smiled at him when he
fell into step beside her.

They walked in silence for a while. "I liked singing with you last
night," he said at last.

"It was fun," she agreed. "You have a nice voice."

He was trying to think of what to say next when a pair of theskies poked
their heads in between them. "Gack!" said the larger of the two, nudging
Zach with its head."Gack!"

He laughed and scratched it under the chin. "I think these are the ones
who were hanging around inside the camp last night," he said, pushing the
creature's snout away.

"How can you tell them apart?" asked Clea.

"Look here," said Zach. "See the variations in

the bars across the back of their necks? Now look at their eyes. Also,
once you get used to them you'll begin to hear a difference in their
voices."

"Oy!" said the smaller theskie.

Clea stroked its neck, enjoying the smooth.soft feel of its scales.
Something fluttered overhead. Looking up, she spotted a small, speckled
creature, about the size of a theskie's foot, flying from branch to
branch in a nearby tree.

"What's that?" she asked.

Zach shrugged. "The bio team may have catalogued it by now, but I haven't
begun to learn the names of all the critters you can find in this corner
of Gauguin. The theskies and the quufers are so common in town it
sometimes seems like that's all the wildlife there is. But there's
thousands of different species crawling around out here."

The idea made Clea nervous. She stared at the foliage beside her as if
she were wondering what kind of awful things might be lurking there.

Zach laughed. "Do you have a quufer yet?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Should 1?"

"Well it's not a matter of should. It's just that most people do sooner
or later. According to Sean, the things are so cute and friendly that the
minute the bio team gave the okay, people started adopting them in
droves. I've lost track of how many we have in our house. It helps make
up for the pets we had to leave behind."

Clea nodded. "I never thought it made sense to

say it was okay for human beings to come to a planet, but that we
couldn't bring along our pets! Biological invasion is biological
invasion."

"Every additional organism carries at least a hundred complications for
the ecosystem," said Zach, quoting the biologists' favorite warning.
"Even so, I miss my cat."

"Come on, you two," called Dr. Kovitch. "We've got work to do!"

"Uh-oh," said Zach. "You'd better watch it. Spend too much time talking
to me and people will start to think you're a skate, too."

"You're no skate," said Clea.

"Shhhh!" hissed Zach, rolling his eyes comically. "What do you want to
do? Ruin my reputation?"


CHAPTER TEN:
============



When the Rocks Roll
===================


Philippa had wondered why the scientists set them up in teams of ten. By
the time they finished drilling their first hole, she had her answer:
getting all the measurements and angles correct was an incredibly
complicated process.

First they had to find the general area, then the exact spot-a process
which involved staring at the maps and electronic imaging sheets for
several minutes, then trying to match the images with the physical
location they thought was right. This seemed to call for everyone running
around and trying to find specific rocks and plants, counting leaves, and
arguing about what might have happened in the two or three days since the
images had been made.

"Sure this plant is a leaf short," she heard Zach say several times.
"Things do get eaten, you know."

When everybody finally agreed that they had exactly the right
location-and Dr. Kovitcfy insisted that everyone agree-they would set up
for the actual drilling. Tempers sometimes grew short as they discovered
that what had looked merely difficult when Doctors Cardell and Stemple
were explaining it was nearly impossible in real life.

Things were complicated by the fact that since Gauguin had a weak
magnetic field, they had to base their measurements on the gravitational
field. The instruments were sensitive-"cranky" was the way Zach put
it-and more than once they had a triangulation all set up when suddenly
someone would call, "Whoops, that's not it. Better start again."

I'm glad Dr. Kovitch is a patient woman, thought Philippa. This is not a
job for people with short fuses.

The worst situation came in a spot that had been badly affected by the
previous day's quake. After an hour of trying to figure out what went
where, Dr. Kovitch threw up her hands and cried, "This one we do by
guesswork!"

When they were done drilling the hole and planting the Fault Finder,
Philippa slipped on her backpack and looked around for someone to walk to
the next location with-preferably Arkady or Sean,

The nearest person was Clea.

Philippa hesitated. It would be nice to make friends with one of the
other girls. But that had

never worked for her before. Besides, she was pretty sure Clea was
interested in Sean. She was still trying to decide whether or not she
wanted him herself, and she wasn't about to pass him on to the next in
line until she made up her mind. Arkady solved the problem by appearing
quietly beside her.

Clea paused and wiped her brow. It was late afternoon, and they had
planted all but three of their Fault Finders. She didn't want to think
about how far they had walked, though Dr. Kovitch said they were getting
close to the place where the Catalans met the Cynthians. The terrain was
far more rugged than when they had started out that morning, and many of
the peaks here soared past the timberline.

"Ackle!" said the theskie walking beside her.

"Oh, shut up!" replied Clea. She was tired and in no mood for commentary
from a theskie. She scurried to catch up with Zach, who was walking near
the front of the group.

"Greetings, fair Galahadian," he said. Then he began telling a long,
complicated story about something that had happened to his family back on
Earth.

Sean, Arkady, and Philippa were walking just ahead of Zach and Clea when
they entered a narrow pass that led between two steep cliffs. When Clea
thought about it later, the only one in the group who didn't fit was Will
Mornette. She couldn't figure out how, or why, he happened to

be walking so close to the rest of them- especially since he had been
having such a hard time keeping up for most of the day.

"So anyway," continued Zach, "Mom grabbed Lilith under one arm, Tristram
under the other, and went running out the door yelling 'You bring that
dog back right this instant!'"

Clea was doubling over with laughter when the tremor hit. It wasn't
actually that severe; they had already experienced far more powerful
quakes. But they were definitely in the wrong spot for this one.

"Look out!" yelled Zach, wrapping an arm around Clea's waist and running
forward with her. She saw Will Mornette close behind. His eyes were
bulging with terror, and the way his arms and legs were pumping made him
look like some strange, rickety puppet.

A crevice was splitting the ground behind Will. It cut straight across
the narrow pass, slicing a chasm between the six leaders and the rest of
the group.

Huge boulders began bouncing down the cliffs.

"Keep going!" yelled Sean.

They ran, quite literally, for their lives. Survival was as much a matter
of not running into anything as it was getting out of the way of things.
For Clea the most terrifying moment came when she spotted a falling
boulder from the corner of her eye. Without thinking, she pushed Zach to
the ground and dropped down beside him.

The boulder sailed over their heads with inches to spare.

Sean held his breath and waited. The problem now was not the quake, but
the possibility that some big rock shaken loose by the tremors was still
waiting to fall. In their present location even a minor aftershock could
be very dangerous.

"Yo!" he called, after a moment. "Everyone okay?"

"Clea and I are alive and breathing over here," yelled Zach.

"I think I'm okay," said Philippa. "It's hard to tell. I'm still shaking."

"I am fine," said Arkady, standing up and brushing himself off.

Sean waited. "Will?" he called.

No answer.

"Has anyone seen Will?"

"He was behind us," said Zach, helping Clea to her feet. He sounded
worried.

"I've found him," shouted Arkady. "Someone come-I'll need some help."

All of them came as fast as they could.

To Sean's relief, Will had simply collapsed from exhaustion; the
adrenaline-fueled burst of energy that had enabled him to escape from the
edge of the fissure had been too much for a body accustomed to Acedium's
lower gravity.

Will blinked. He seemed intensely embarrassed when he opened his eyes and
saw five concerned faces staring down at him. When he realized Arkady was
supporting him with an arm

under his shoulders he tried to get up, only to find that he was weaker
than he had expected. "I'll be okay," he whispered. "Just need a minute
to recover."

"Take your time," said Sean. "You can rest while I go back and see what's
happened to the others. Zach-you want to come with me?"

Zach nodded and followed Sean back down the valley.

Will collapsed back in Arkady's arms. He closed his eyes, wishing that he
could be like Sean. It was remarkable the way he could take charge of a
situation. How good it must feel to have others look up to you, to be so
sure of yourself. He drifted back into unconsciousness, cursing his
feeble body, his parents, and gravity.

A few meters away Zach was picking a path over and around the fallen
rocks and wondering how he had ended up in the role of the hero's
sidekick when he had spent so many daydreams acting the part of the hero.
It seemed like whenever something went wrong, Sean just stepped in and
handled things. It was great; someone had to do it, and he did it very
well. Only it was something Zach wanted to do himself.

He wondered if Sean figured that since his father was governor he should
be a leader, too. Or was it heredity-natural-born leader and all that
stuff?

He shook his head in irritation. His ears were ringing. He figured it
must be an aftereffect from the roar of the quake. He wished it would
stop. It

was annoying-like an insect you couldn't shoo away.

"Ackle, ackle!"

Zach laughed as the two theskies that had been hanging around all day
came bouncing out from behind a pile of rocks. "Glad you guys survived
the big shake-up," he said.

"Ackle," replied the larger theskie, falling into step beside him.

"Whoa!" said Zach, when they reached the fissure that now divided the
valley. "That's one nasty hole!"

The crevice was several meters wide and so deep that he could not see the
bottom. Clearly, crossing it was going to be a major problem. But then,
they had already faced tougher problems than that and survived!

To the relief of both boys Dr. Kovitch was standing on the other side of
the crevice. Yadira, Peter, and Elken stood beside her.

"Where's Cybill?" called Sean. "Is she all right?"

Dr. Kovitch shook her head. "She twisted her ankle pretty seriously.
She's in no condition to walk. I've called for a veetol to come get her."

Sean nodded. A vertical-take-off-and-landing plane was the only kind of
aircraft that would be of any use here.

"Unfortunately," continued Dr. Kovitch, "it won't be arriving for another
three or four hours."

"Why so long?" asked Zach.

"The colony only has a handful, and they're all busy airlifting Fault
Finder teams into rougher terrain." She laughed. "You know-the places
that aren't as easy to get to as where we are. How's everyone there?"

"I think we're all okay," said Sean. "Will collapsed after everything was
all over, but it looks like it was just a combination of nerves and
over-exertion."

"Shall I have the bird pick him up?" asked Dr. Kovitch.

"Might be a good idea."

"I don't think so," said Zach. He spoke softly, so that only Sean would
hear him. "Will's a pain in the ass to have along. But we're almost done.
If you send him back now-well, it just wouldn't be good for him."

Sean hesitated.

"Also, he's the best grav-meter operator in the bunch. Clea's pretty good
at it, but without Will, some of the plantings we did today would have
taken twice as long."

Sean nodded. "Hold off on that bird for Will," he called across the
fissure. "If we're going" to continue the mission, it makes more sense
for him to stay with us."

"Who says you're going to continue the mission?" asked Dr. Kovitch
sharply.""

"Take it easy, hero," whispered Zach. "We're walking a thin line."

Sean hesitated. "I didn't figure we had any

choice," he said at last. "The geo teams want this all done pronto."

"They also want it done right!" said Dr. Kovitch. "You don't have all the
tools, do you?"

"I think we've got everything we need," said Sean."Arkady was carrying
the Fault Finders. Clea has a set of the maps and photos. And Zach and I
have the drill. We're missing some measurement equipment, but if we make
some of the gravmeters do double duty, we can get along."

Dr. Kovitch hesitated. "Are you sure about Will?"

Sean glanced at Zach. "You better know what you're doing, buddy," he
muttered.

"Sean, I said are you sure?" Dr. Kovitch looked worried. "I'm still in
charge of this crew. If one of you gets mangled, it'll be my head that
lands on the chopping block."

Sean kept his doubts on his side of the fissure. "He'll be fine!" he
called. "He just needed a little time to recover from that last shake-up."

"All right," she said, "then listen, and listen good..."

"Nice work," said Zach out of the corner of his mouth. "She's gonna let
us do it!"

Then, for a moment, he wondered why he had urged Sean to talk Dr. Kovitch
into letting them go on.

Actually, the answer was easy-it was an adventure!


CHAPTER ELEVEN:
===============



Spike and Matilda
=================


"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all," said Zach, staring at the
map in despair. "I am totally lost." He shook his head. If the ringing in
his ears would go away, maybe he could concentrate better.

"You're lost because we took a wrong turn about three hundred meters back
that way," said Will.

Sean looked at him sharply. "Are you sure?" "Here, let me show you." Will
took the map from Zach and spread it on the ground so that everyone could
see. "Here's where we were walking when the last quake hit," he said,
pointing to a spot on the left of the map. "And here's the path we
followed up the side of the valley." As he spoke he traced a line across
the map with one of his extraordinarily long fingers. "And

then, when we got here, instead of going this way, we went this way."

"If we cut across here, will it take us where we want to go?" asked Sean,
pointing to a possible shortcut.

"I wouldn't chance it," said Will. "It looks like there's a deep ravine
about here. I think it would be safer to backtrack."

"I agree with Will," said Clea. "It's not that far back to where we made
the wrong turn. Why take any more chances?"

"I'm not arguing," said Sean. "I just asked a question. We'll go back
that way."

With a collective sigh, the six weary teenagers shouldered their packs
and headed down the way they had come, accompanied by the pair of
theskies that had joined them earlier in the day. Philippa noticed that
the animals seemed to be sticking with them more closely than ever since
the quake.

Arkady chose to walk beside Will. "You have some interesting skills," he
said casually. "Knots, map-reading. They don't seem like the kind of
thing that would be taught in a dome world like Acedium."

Will smiled. "They aren't. My father made me learn them. It's a family
tradition."

Arkady lifted an eyebrow, inviting Will to explain why a family would
have those kinds of traditions.

Will accepted. "My father's line was mostly Amerindian," he said. "They
clung to the old

ways of the twenty-third century long after most of the world had moved
on. In fact, Dad can trace his lineage all the way back to the early
years of ' the twenty-second century, when they gave the tribes what was
left of California. Until a few generations ago, the Whitehorse family
stayed pretty much linked in to all that."

"I thought your name was Mornette."

Will smiled. "It is. William Whitehorse Mornette. No one was very amused
when my father's grandmother married out of the lines."

Arkady nodded. The fact that until recently Will's family had held itself
aloof from the great mingling of the races that had occurred over the
last five centuries helped explain the unusual reddish cast of the tall
boy's skin.

"They were even less amused when my father chose to leave Earth and live
on the Alpha Centauri Moon Base. As far as they were concerned, people
who lived in domes were forsaking their heritage. I think my father
taught me outdoor skills so he wouldn't feel so guilty about the whole
thing." Will sighed. "I didn't mind learning them; it was kind of fun.
But I never thought I would have to use them."

He looked up and shuddered. "This all seems so-unprotected," he said,
gesturing around them with a sweep of his long, slender arm. "I find it
terrifying."

The movement startled a cloud of large insects into the air. Will
shuddered again. He was glad he had remembered to swallow his morning
dose of

the repellent that helped keep them off his skin. It seemed strange-even
dangerous-to have things like that flying around loose!

"Why did your family move here?" asked Arkady.

Will frowned. "Romance," he said grimly. "I don't want to talk about it."

Arkady nodded. Sometimes he didn't like to talk about the things that
were bothering him, either.

Sean fell into step beside Philippa. This was the first chance he had
found to speak to her without anyone else around since their fight two
nights ago. "Still mad at me?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

Philippa shrugged, causing her silky white hair to ripple over her
shoulders. "Not mad," she said. "Just confused. I don't understand you."

Sean smiled. "Maybe you're not supposed to," he said.

Philippa scowled. "Don't be so smug. Listen-about that speech. I was
wrong to push you so hard. I suppose I didn't make things any easier for
you. But I still don't see why it bothered you so much. You're a natural
leader. You take charge and people follow."

"Oh really?" said Sean. "It didn't seem like you thought that way a half
an hour ago."

Philippa had been the only one to object when Sean had announced that the
group was going to plant the remaining Fault Finders. They hadn't

really had an argument; she was clearly outvoted. But the disagreement
had made everyone uncomfortable.

She flipped her hair over one shoulder, dismissing the incident. "Someone
has to keep you humble," she said playfully.

Sean felt his cheeks grow warm. "Listen, this taking-charge thing isn't
something 1 mean to do. It just sort of happens. After I get something
started, I keep expecting someone to say 'Who the hell do you think you
are? Sit down and shut up!' Like you did back there. Except usually no
one does. Sometimes I really wish they would. I didn't know what I was
doing on that bus yesterday. I was terrified."

"Yeah, but you were wonderful," said Philippa.

He looked at her. The tone in her voice, the look in her eyes, convinced
him she meant exactly what she was saying.

He glanced back at the trail. He felt the same confusion he had
experienced when they argued about the speech. He could never figure out
if what Philippa liked was Sean Matthews-or what everyone else thought of
Sean Matthews.

"I wonder if those two think we can protect them," said Zach. He nodded
toward the pair of theskies as he lifted a branch out of Clea's way.

"Protect them from what?" she asked. "They're almost as big as we are."

"I don't know. From earthquakes. I'm just surprised they've hung around
so long. They're get-

ting to be like family. I think we ought to name them."

"Well, what are they? Boys, girls, or one of each?"

Zach shrugged."Hard to say. Theskies tend to keep their gender a secret.
I vote we name the big one Spike."

Clea laughed. "Isn't that an awfully masculine name for an animal of
uncertain gender?"

"Not really. I used to have a cat by that name. He wasn't all that
masculine after his operation. I had to give Spike to one of my cousins
when we left Earth.This is in his-its-honor."

"Okay, then I want to name the smaller one Matilda."

"Matilda?" exclaimed Zach, wrinkling his nose.

"Yes-Matilda. That was the name of my pet sandpig back on Galahad. 1 miss
her."

""What's a sandpig?"

Clea got so wrapped up in her description of the native biology of
Galahad that she and Zach almost missed a turn everyone else had taken,
and only got on track again because Sean called to them when he noticed
they were straying.

To Zach's surprise, the theskies protested when he and Clea turned away
from the path they had been following.

"What's bothering them?" he asked, nodding at the agitated creatures.

"I don't have the slightest idea," said Clea. "I wouldn't know how to
annoy a theskie if I tried."

"Spike! Matilda! Andpig!" cried the larger of the theskies.

Clea took Zach's arm. "That's weird," she said. "Are you sure they're not
a sentient species?" The idea was thrilling and a little horrifying.

"The psychologists have tested these things six ways from Sirius," said
Zach. "All they do is imitate sounds. It's empty noise. They have an
amazing talent for it-some of them can pick up whole phrases with no
trouble-but they have no idea what the sounds mean. They're like walking
recording devices, and not a bit brighter. Just because you can press a
button on a machine, and it repeats what you've said, you don't think
it's intelligent, do you?"

Clea looked at him dubiously.

"Well, do you?" he asked.

"No, but-oh, I don't know."

"Well look, it doesn't make that much difference anyway, does it? I mean,
they're protected, like all native species of every colonized planet. So
it's not like we're going to start wiping them out and then discover that
they really are intelligent after it's too late to save the species. It
won't be like what happened with the whales."

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Damn," he said. "I wish this
ringing in my ears would go away."

"You have it, too?" asked Clea.

"It comes and goes," he said, whacking his hand against the side of his
head. "I wish it would just go."

"Me, too," she said. "It's been driving me crazy ever since last night."

Zach looked at her in surprise. "You know, I guess it did start last
night," he said. "I'd been thinking it began after that last quake. I was
afraid the noise had damaged my eardrums or something. But I think it did
start last night, after-after we went to bed," he finished lamely.

Clea looked at him sharply. But before she could question him they were
interrupted by the arrival of a very agitated Sean Matthews. "What's
wrong with you two?" he snapped. "Are you lost in the Toroid Zone?"

"What do you mean?" asked Zach, his voice sharper than Clea had ever
heard it. Then he looked around.

"Oh," he said sheepishly.

They had gotten so involved in their conversation they had continued
walking even after Sean had warned them that they were going off in the
wrong direction. Now the rest of the group was standing about ten meters
away, looking at them like they were total idiots.

"Ackle, ackle!" said the theskies.

Zach hesitated. "Look," he said. "I know this sounds weird, but I think
those theskies want to show us something. They've been acting really
funny."

"Funny!" said Spike.

"Funny, funny!" said Matilda.

"We don't have time for theskie games," said

Sean. "We have to get these Fault Finders planted."

"Theskies!" said Spike, bobbing its head up and down.

"Come on," said Sean, "let's move."

Zach looked back at the theskies.

"Sean is right," said Clea, touching Zach on the shoulder. "We really
have to get this done."

They followed Sean back to the main trail. The theskies came trotting
along behind, clucking and muttering to themselves. Despite what he had
said to Clea earlier, Zach couldn't help but think that they sounded very
unhappy.

When the group finally reached the place where they were to plant the
first of the three remaining Fault Finders, they discovered that doing
the job with six people and a reduced equipment supply was an exercise in
patience that would have riled the temper of a Vespen mudcow, a creature
widely recognized as the most notoriously placid animal on the 115
settled planets. Biologists were still trying to discover how the species
stayed alive, since mudcows had been known to starve to death rather than
take the trouble to get up and go look for food.

By the time they actually drilled the hole, everyone was in such a hurry
that Zach burned his hand by not waiting for the rim around the opening
to cool before trying to lower the Fault Finder into position.

"Ow, ow, ow!" cried the theskies, imitating

him as he jumped around, blowing on his blistered palm.

"Only two more to go," said Sean grimly. He tried to radio a message back
to the observatory, but the small set he had strapped to his wrist, meant
only for intragroup communication, didn't have the power to punch back
through the hills to the main receiver. He would have to find someplace
higher to make the call. He wished he had asked Dr. Kovitch to toss her
radio across the crevice, but realized that was silly. She would have
needed it to give directions when the Veetol came to pick up the injured
student.

Will groaned and dragged himself to his feet. He grunted as he picked up
his pack.

Arkady considered offering to take some of the burden, but realized it
would be hard for Will to accept in front of the others. He decided to
wait until they were on the trail. He might have a chance to talk to Will
alone, when shifting some of the load would be less embarrassing.

"Where did these paths come from, anyway?" Philippa asked as they set out
again. "We certainly haven't been out here making them."

"I think they're theskie trails," Arkady answered. "They usually travel
in packs, so it makes sense that they would wear down a trail, especially
if they follow a regular route. That's probably why those theskies of
Zach's-what does he call them?-"

"Spike and Matilda," said Philippa.

"Right. That's probably why Spike and Matilda

were upset back there. I'm guessing they were torn between sticking with
us and following their regular path. Or maybe we were taking a trail that
belonged to a rival band of theskies. Who knows? We don't know that much
about the creatures yet."

"A rival band?" asked Philippa nervously. "Are they territorial? I don't
want to get caught between two bands of angry theskies, even if they are
friendly to humans."

She shivered at the idea. Theskies were so friendly it was easy to lose
sight of the fact that they were essentially two meters of bone, muscle,
and sinew equipped with very sharp claws and teeth.

"Are there other animals out here?" she asked nervously.

Sean shrugged. "Nothing that seems dangerous to humans. At least," he
added cheerfully, "not that we know of."

"Oh, boogie-boogie-boogie," said Philippa, trying to laugh off his
attempt to frighten her.

But she found herself looking into the undergrowth with increased
nervousness as they continued along the path.


CHAPTER TWELVE:
===============



The Patch of Green
==================


The theskies behaved rather placidly for the rest of the afternoon. Clea
wondered if it was because they had forgotten what was bothering them, or
because they had just given up on distracting the group from their work.

It was late afternoon by the time they reached the location designated on
the maps for the third Fault Finder. They were traveling through a
relatively open section of forest, quite different from some of the thick
underbrush through which they had passed earlier in the day.

"Where do quufers live?" asked Clea when they stopped to let Will rest.
"They're all over the city, but I haven't seen any since we left."

"No one is sure, really," said Sean. "They seem to prefer sunshine-the
most likely place to find them is somewhere warm, soaking up rays. So I
guess you wouldn't expect to find them in the woods. Too shady."

"I'd like to be somewhere warm, soaking up rays," said Zach. "I'm beat."
He looked at Will. "How are you doing?"

Will sighed. "As soon as we get home, I plan to get in a hot bath for
about eighteen months. I'm lame in places I didn't even know I had." Then
he turned the focus of the group away from himself by pointing to the
map. "I think we have to go this way next. It's not very far."

Sean glanced at some of the photos that went with the map. "It looks like
there's a big plateau about two kilometers past the final location," he
said. "It's hard to tell how high it is, but if we can climb it, it might
make a good spot for us to spend the night. If it's high enough, maybe we
can radio the observatory."

Clea blinked. Although it made sense, she hadn't realized they would be
spending the night in the wilderness. "Shouldn't we go back to where we
separated from Dr. Kovitch?" she asked.

"Maybe tomorrow," said Sean."But we'd never make it back there before
dark tonight. Anyway, I'm hoping that if the emergency work is done by
tomorrow they might send a veetol out to pick us up."

"That would be heavenly," said Will.

Two hours later they were preparing to drill the last hole when a tremor
knocked them all to the ground.

"You know you're getting blase when you start shrugging off earthquakes,"
said Philippa, climb-

ing to her feet and dusting off the back of her boorman.

"Blah, blah, blah," said Spike, who had run off squawking when the tremor
hit.

"You know, I'm not sure I like those things," said Philippa. "They may
not know what they're saying. But they definitely have a preference for
rude noises."

"Gack!" said Matilda, nodding and blinking.

"My sentiments exactly," said Will. He picked up the gravmeter and
continued his efforts to get a steady reading.

After the teenagers planted the last Fault Finder and began heading for
the plateau, Spike and Matilda started to act up again. This time even
Sean was willing to admit that they seemed to want something.

"I guess we might as well go see what has them so wound up," he said as
he watched them run frantically back and forth from the group of
exhausted hikers to a faint trail that angled off through the foliage.

Will sighed heavily, but didn't say anything. They began to follow the
theskies down the trail.

"I don't get it," said Zach, when they came to an area where the foliage
had been trampled down. "What's bothering them?"

The theskies were running around in circles, gabbling unhappily. Spike
kept nudging Zach with his head, but he couldn't figure out where the
animal wanted him to go.

"I think I know," said Clea. She was standing at

the edge of the clearing, looking down at a trampled plant. She sounded
nervous.

"What is it?" asked Sean.

"Someone's been here before us," she said.

"That doesn't make any sense. The central computer banks have a record of
every inch of Gauguin that's actually been explored. These photos and
maps are all marked as virgin territory." Sean paused. It hit him for the
first time that they were seeing territory that had never before been
viewed by human eyes.

"Well unless theskies have started using boots, someone else has been
tromping around here," said Clea.

"Yeah, and I think it may be kind of a dangerous someone," said Zach,
pointing to the ground at the left of the area that had been trampled
down. When the others crossed to join him they saw a dark green patch of
something dry and flaking. Matilda and Spike started to shriek.

"What is it?" asked Philippa, stepping closer to Sean.

"Body fluid," said Zach, "something like blood."

"Green?" asked Will.

Zach nodded at the theskies. They were shrieking and clawing the ground.

"Let's get out of here," said Clea. She started to shiver, despite the
fact that the late-afternoon air was very hot.

Clea had spent most of the day trying to ignore

what had happened just before she went to sleep the previous night. She
preferred to believe it had been a dream, even a hallucination, than to
think that someone-something-had really tried to contact her.

Someone must hear witness, the message had said.

Could it have come from the theskies? Was this what they were supposed to
witness, that someone had been hunting them?

The idea was appalling, of course. Clea had been too deeply conditioned
by the Planetary League's injunctions protecting all native life-forms
not to respond with horror to the idea of someone actually hunting the
creatures, as Will claimed must be happening.

Yet somehow she couldn't believe that the message had come from the
theskies. Zach was right. They were just another kind of parrot-funny to
listen to, but not really intelligent. But then where had the message
come from? Was someone else on Gauguin trying to contact them?

Or was she simply losing her mind?

"You're an empath, aren't you?"

The unexpected sound of Zach's voice made her jump.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm just a little jumpy after what we found back there," she said. She
took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

"I know. Me, too." He looked her in the eye

and asked the question again. "Are you an empath?"

Clea hesitated. "I'm not sure," she said. "I seem to have some ability in
that direction. My mother claims I've always known what people were
feeling without being told. Why?"

"Arkady told me that you knew Sean and I were having trouble with Mr.
Oblitt on the bridge yesterday before anyone could really see it. He said
you nearly gave poor Dr. Kovitch a heart attack by announcing it when her
back was turned."

"Someday I'll learn to keep my mouth shut," said Clea.

"Can't hide that kind of thing forever," said Zach. "My mother's an
empath-one of the best healers around, though that's not saying much,
considering the planet has a total population of seven thousand two
hundred and three. And that's assuming no one's been swallowed by an
earthquake since yesterday."

"What are you getting at?" asked Clea.

Zach hesitated. "Did anything weird happen to you last night?"

He saw the answer in her eyes before she nodded her head. The motion was
slow, almost reluctant. He understood; he didn't want anyone to think he
was crazy, either.

"Do you know what it was?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Haven't the foggiest idea," he said. "But I got sick
of holding on to it by

myself. Do you think we ought to say anything to the others?"

"I don't know. Do you think any of them might have experienced it, too?"

Zach shrugged. "I've been watching them all day. But when I tried
dangling a few hints, you were the only one who rose to the bait. No one
else even gave me a nibble. So I'm guessing it was just the two of us."

"So what do we do?"

"Wait. Keep our mouths shut and see what happens. I don't know about you,
but I'm scared."

"Don't say that!" she said. "Pretend you're not. Then I won't be so
scared."

"Anything you want," said Zach.

"Are you convinced it was hunters?" Sean said, looking up into Will
Mornette's troubled face.

"How certain can I be?" said Will with a shrug. "It's like the maps, the
knots; I'm using things my I father taught me. I've never actually seen
the results of a hunt. It could just be some native predator. But that
clearing was filled with signs I was taught to look for."

"What kind of signs?" asked Arkady.

Will shrugged, looking embarrassed. "The way the plants were bent. A
place where the leaves looked as if something heavy had fallen on them. A
line where some broken stems indicated something might have been dragged
across them. A handful of scales. It's all interpretation. You don't know
for sure. But it's possible."

"But hunters?" asked Philippa. "No one would be hunting on Gauguin.
People just don't do that kind of thing."

Sean laughed, but the sound was bitter and harsh. "You'd be amazed at the
things 'people don't do' that get done," he said. "My father has talked
about a few of them. Usually he doesn't say much because it upsets my
mother. But there's a market in that kind of stuff. People, rich people,
who collect-things."

"Stop," said Philippa. "I don't want to hear about it."

"So what do we do now?" asked Arkady.

"Find a place to make camp for the night," said Sean. "Hope we don't have
any more earthquakes before they get us out of here. Try to do something
about this when we get back to town."

"Can we do anything?" asked Will.

Sean looked grim. "Probably not. The official attitude is pretty much
what Philippa said a minute ago: people just don't do that kind of thing.
The unofficial attitude is people just don't want to know."

The base of the plateau was farther than Sean had anticipated.

"I can't," said Will with a groan when they emerged from the trees, and
he saw the steep rise of rock ahead of them. "I really don't think I can
do it."

"Then we'll wait till morning," said Sean. "We can radio in then. We're
probably as safe down

here as we would be up there, anyway. We'll just make sure we make camp
far enough from the cliffs that if there is a quake, we won't be in line
for any falling rocks."

"Sounds fine to me," said Arkady.

Sean wasn't surprised. He had already noticed that the sturdy Thetan was
making a point of watching out for Will.

They pitched their tents and prepared supper in relative silence. But as
they began to eat, Will let out a noise that was halfway between a moan
and a sigh. "I can't believe it's over," he said in astonishment. "I
really can't believe I don't have to walk anymore today!"

Justine came floating over the horizon. The sky began to fill with stars.
Nameless creatures shrieked and growled and uttered other less distinct
noises beyond the electronic barrier. Wings fluttered overhead.

Spike had his long neck stretched over Matilda's back. Suddenly his eyes
popped open, and he lifted his head and cried, "I'm a rover, rover,
rover, and I sail from star to star."

"Ackle," replied Matilda placidly.

"That's not just mimicking!" said Clea.

Sean shook his head. "Of course it is," he said softly. "You and Zach
were singing those very words last night."

"Well that's a lot of syllables for a dumb animal to repeat after only
hearing it once."

"Are you sure it only heard them once?" asked Arkady gently. "It seems to
me as though I heard

you singing the song again today while we were walking."

"Well, maybe I did," said Clea a little uncertainly. "But that's still a
lot of words."

"A lot of words and not a bit of comprehension," said Zach. "If they were
really using words, they would talk to us. Spike was just repeating
sounds."

"Oh, there's no talking to you guys," said Clea. "I'm going to bed. I'm
tired."

But once she was in the tent, Clea found that she couldn't sleep. Too
much had happened in the last few days. She began to make a list in her
head of everything she had experienced recently-partly so she could feel
sorry for herself, partly so she could be impressed with herself.

"In one week I've landed on a new planet, been trapped in earthquakes,
hiked into the wilderness, and learned to operate a gravmeter," she
whispered, almost like it was a litany.

Then, reluctantly, she added, "I've also received a mysterious message by
telepathy."

She wished Philippa would come into the tent.

But the arrival of the girl from Alphorion carried no comfort. When
Philippa backed into the tent, spread her sleeping sheet, and then turned
around, Clea cried out in shock, in the darkness the whites of Philippa's
eyes gave off a soft green glow.

"Don't be so provincial!" snapped Philippa. "Everyone knows people from
Alphorion have eyes that glow in the dark."

Clea started to deny that she knew any such thing. But then she
remembered Sean talking about it at the school assembly. How long ago was
that? she wondered, and was astonished to realize it had only been two
days.

"I'm sorry," said Clea, feeling embarrassed. Anything other than mild
curiosity in response to planetary-induced traits was considered the
height of rudeness. She knew she had totally humiliated herself by her
reaction to Philippa's eyes.

To her astonishment, Philippa brushed the matter off. "It's all right,"
she said. "It's been a long day. Let's get some sleep."

But sleep did not come. Clea was just drifting off when the message came
tickling into her mind again. This time there was no denying it. Someone
must bear witness, insisted the mind that was reaching out of the
darkness to touch hers. Please come to the plateau. Someone must hear
witness.

She sat up and began to dress.

Philippa sat up, too, her luminescent eyes the only point of light in the
tent. "Did you hear it?" she asked, her voice trembling in wonder.

"I did," said Clea.

"What does it mean?" asked Philippa.

"I don't know," said Clea. "But I have to find out."

She opened the tent and stepped out into the night.


CHAPTER THIRTEEN
================



The Summons
===========


Sean couldn't believe he was having this argument with Zach of all
people. Zach was a skate. He was flip and funny. But he wasn't out of his
mind. At least, he hadn't seemed that way. Now he was standing in front
of the tent, claiming that he had to go up onto the plateau.

"This is ridiculous," said Sean. "You can't go now."

"I have to," said Zach. "There might not be a later. And there's
something up there that someone has to see."

"He's right," said Clea. "It has to be now."

Sean hadn't even seen her come out of her tent. "Not you, too," he said
wearily.

"What's going on?" asked Arkady, crawling out of the tent he was sharing
with Will.

"Zach-and Clea, I guess-think there's something they have to see up on
the plateau. I'm try-

ing to be as polite as I can about telling them they're crazy." He turned
back to Clea. "We're going up there tomorrow anyway."

"Tomorrow will be too late," said Clea.

"What are you talking about?" asked Sean, sounding as puzzled as he was
angry.

Clea hesitated. "I don't know for sure," she said. "It's something that
comes inside my head when I'm just about to fall asleep. It happened last
night. It happened tonight, even stronger. It's not words, it's-feelings,
images, almost like a memory tugging at me. All I know is we have to go
up to the plateau. We have to bear witness."

"Didn't you feel it at all?" asked Philippa.

Glancing sideways, Sean could see her glowing eyes at the opening of the
tent.

"No," he said, almost defiantly. "Did you?"

"Only like a whisper," said Philippa. Her voice was soft, frightened. "It
tickles at the back of my head. It's like an important dream that you
can't quite remember. I didn't feel it as strongly as Clea and Zach. But
it was there."

"And do you think we should climb the plateau tonight?" demanded Sean.

"I don't know," said Philippa. She stepped away from the tent, into the
light of the twin moons. "I'm confused."

"There is something up there, you know," said Will, who had followed
Arkady out of the tent. "I can feel it, too."

"What about you, Arkady?" asked Sean.

Arkady shook his head. "I don't have any idea what's going on."

Sean turned and looked at the plateau. The steep sides appeared
silver-blue in the moonlight. Was something waiting for them up there?
The idea made the hairs along the back of his neck rise.

"Did it ever occur to you that if there is something up there it might be
dangerous? I'm not saying there is anything. But if there is, are you
sure you want to climb up there and find it in the middle of the night?"

"Tomorrow will be too late," said Zach uneasily-

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just know it will be."

"Sounds like pressure tactics to me," said Sean."Buy now or lose this
deal. Even if hearing this 'message' doesn't mean you're crazy, trying to
answer it right now does."

"You're wrong," said Clea. "It's not bad. I know it's not." Even as she
made the protest she knew she sounded silly and naive.

"Want some candy, little girl?" said Sean sardonically.

"You're twisting my words," said Clea angrily.

"I'm trying to keep you from doing something stupid!" he snapped.

"Witness!" said Spike.

The six teenagers turned to look at the theskie.

"Witness," it repeated. "Witness! Ackle ackle ackle."

Philippa moved closer to Sean.

"Are you sure they don't know what they're saying?" asked Clea.

"I'm not sure of anything right now," said Zach.

"They pick up on emotionally charged words," said Sean, trying to stay
calm. "Someone here said 'witness' just a minute ago. Spike's only
repeating it."

"Go. See. On the plateau," agreed Matilda in her raucous, cawing voice.

Philippa slipped her hand into the crook of Sean's arm.

"Everything they're saying they heard right here in the last few
minutes," insisted Sean.

Clea wasn't sure whether he was trying to convince himself or the rest of
them. She looked at the plateau. What was waiting up there? Was it really
a trap, as Sean was warning them? That was hard to believe. The message
had seemed friendly. Desperate, yes. But not the sending of an enemy.

Want some candy, little girl? She frowned and shook her head, trying to
drown out Sean's words.

She didn't need to. The message came again and did the job for her.
Someone must hear witness. It was intense, almost desperate.

"I have to go up there!" she said.

"No!" said Sean. "You're staying here with the rest of us."

She looked at him coldly ."Are you telling me I'm a prisoner?" she asked.

Sean looked uncomfortable. Now what do I do? he thought. He had no right
to force Clea-or any of them-to stay in the camp. No one had elected him
leader; they all just acted like he was in charge. Typical, he thought
bitterly. Everyone was glad to have me run things as long as we didn't
disagree. That way anything that went wrong could be my fault. But as
soon as they want to do something different, its every entity for itself.

"The barrier is still up," he said ambiguously.

"Are you telling me I'm a prisoner?" repeated Clea, insisting on an
answer.

Sean closed his eyes. If he held Clea here against her will, she could
bring charges against him when they got back to Ambora. But if he let her
go and anything happened to her-

"Zach?" he said, looking for support.

"We've got to go, Sean."

Suddenly he wondered if he would be able to stop them even if he wanted
to.

"Arkady?"

Arkady Davidov looked up at the mysterious plateau. He tended to think
Sean was right-going up there now was a bad idea. In fact, he wasn't even
sure he wanted to go up there in the daylight. On the other hand, his
family believed-deeply-in not interfering with what others chose to do.

But, he thought, arguing with himself, is this

really a matter of choice? Zach and Clea seem to feel compelled. So maybe
something is already interfering with their right to choose.

"I believe we should stay here," he said.

"This isn't a vote!" said Clea. "I don't care if you come or not. I'm
going to the top of that plateau!"

Arkady sighed. He knew he hadn't really answered Sean. The important
question had been unstated: Will you help if I try to force them to stay?

He felt as though he was standing on a razor-thin line, with a bottomless
abyss yawning on either side of him.

"People make their own choices," he said at last. He wondered as he
listened to himself whether he was speaking from moral conviction or from
cowardice.

Sean sighed. In a way, the decision had been taken out of his hands. Will
and Philippa were already leaning toward Clea's point of view. Without
Arkady to help, there was no way he could prevent them from going.

Was he glad or not?

Certainly Arkady's decision not to back him up avoided what would
undoubtedly have been an extraordinarily unpleasant scene. But whether it
simply delayed the unpleasantness, or even traded it for something even
worse, he couldn't say.

"Sean," said Clea, "take down the barrier."

"The controls are in my pack. If you want it

down, you can take it down yourself."

Zach crawled into the tent and emerged a moment later with a small,
silvery-looking box. "I've got it," he said. His voice sounded uneasy. He
glanced up at the plateau. Sean thought he saw his friend shudder.

"Zach," he said, "you don't have to go."

"Witness!"' gabbled the theskies."Witness."

Zach closed his eyes. "Yes," he said slowly. "I do."

Both moons were up. After sixteen years on Earth, Zach still found the
double shadows confusing. He looked at the box in his hands. No need to
remove the entire barrier-just create a small opening. He pressed a
series of buttons, and the red lights on two of the slender poles that he
and Sean had placed in a circle around the camp blinked out. It was down;
they could go out. And, he realized with a shiver, whatever was out there
could come in.

He turned to Sean and tried one more time. "Look, we're not being drawn
along like zombies. This is our choice. We don't have to go. We want to."

"How do you know that's not part of the whole illusion?" asked Sean
wearily. "That you're being given a choice instead of being forced."

"We don't," Clea answered.

Zach felt sick inside as he followed her through the gate.

"I think we should go, too," said Philippa, before they were out of sight.

It was the first time in several minutes that she had spoken. She had
watched Sean struggle with the others, torn within herself over whether
she wanted him to win or lose the argument. But now, watching Zach and
Clea start toward the plateau, she felt she had to go along. Whatever was
there, it was calling her as well.

"Of course we'll go," said Sean angrily. He had disappeared inside his
tent. Now he reappeared, wearing a full boorman and adjusting the straps
on his pack. "Arkady get your stuff. If you couldn't back me up on this,
you can at least help me cover those fools."

"I had intended to," said Arkady calmly.

Sean hesitated, hovering at the edge of an apology. But his sense of
betrayal was still too raw, and it died on his lips.

"I'm coming, too," said Will.

Sean nodded. He didn't figure Will would be much use. But it was probably
a bad idea to leave him here alone. If anything happened to Will, he'd
probably catch hell for that, too.

By the time the four of them were ready, Zach and Clea were about a
hundred meters away from the camp.

Next question, thought Sean. Do we try to catch up with them or stay
behind so we avoid whatever mess they might be walking into? He rubbed
his hands over his face, as if that would somehow give him an answer.

"Come on," said Philippa. "I want to walk with them."

Sean looked ahead. The sight of Zach and Clea walking across the clear,
flat space that led to the plateau, flanked by a pair of bouncing
theskies was almost comical. If he hadn't been so frightened, he would
have laughed.

"I'm sorry if you feel I let you down," said Arkady, falling into step
beside him. "For you, things are always clear. You know just what to do.
It is not always that way for the rest of us. I had to choose what made
sense for me. Maybe it was wrong. I don't know."

Sean looked at Arkady in astonishment. Did he really mean what he had
just said? Did the others really think he was free from insecurity, from
indecision? He shook his head wearily. "We'll talk about it later," he
said. "Right now we'd better concentrate on keeping up with the rest of
them."

Arkady nodded. Will and Philippa weren't exactly running. But they were
moving fast enough that they would catch up with Zach and Clea long
before they made it to the base of the plateau.


CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
=================



Into the Plateau
================


"Do we have any idea what we're doing?" said Clea shortly after they had
passed beyond the electronic barrier.

"I don't know," said Zach. "Do we?"

"Gack!" said Spike emphatically.

"Quiet, you," said Clea. "I'm in no mood for theskie humor."

"When we found that spot this afternoon, the place where-" Zach
hesitated, suddenly uncertain just what it was safe to say in front of
the theskies. "Uh-the place where these two got so upset," he finally
said, "I thought maybe we had seen whatever it was we were supposed to
see. You know, that we had become 'witnesses.' But I guess that wasn't
it."

Clea shook her head. "I thought that for a little while too," she said.
"But once it started to get dark, I began to sense there was more to it
than

that. I think what we saw earlier today is a separate matter."

Zach nodded. "And a serious one if someone is actually poaching theskies.
But what do you suppose this is all about?" he said.

She sighed. "I wish I knew. Are you frightened?"

"Terrified."

"Me, too. But I don't feel like I'm 'possessed' or anything stupid like
that. I'm doing this on my own."

"I know," said Zach. "But I can't help remembering those old stories
about the sirens of the spaceways luring men to their doom."

"Does that mean I'm safe because I'm a woman?" asked Clea, trying to
lighten the mood.

"Women are never safe as far as I'm concerned," said Zach.

"Do you mean women are never safe around you, or you never feel safe
around a woman?"

"Figure it out," said Zach with a grin.

It was his last attempt at humor. As they continued toward the plateau,
he grew increasingly sober, awed by the sheer cliffs that loomed ahead of
them, and even more by the return of the message, intense and urgent.

Please come. Someone must know. Someone must bear witness.

The sensation was tantalizing, frustrating, exhilarating. Zach knew he
wasn't understanding the message fully-partly because it came more in
pictures and feelings than in words, partly

because the pictures were hazy, like fleeting remnants of a dream, or the
reverse images that sometimes lingered on the inside of his eyelids after
he had stared at something too long.

He was concentrating so intensely on the message that the arrival of Will
and Philippa nearly sent him out of his skin. "Don't do that!" he cried
when Will tapped him on the shoulder.

Zach shook his head when he saw Will recoil in shock. "Sorry," he said.
"I didn't mean to scare you. But you terrified me!"

"I just wanted to let you know we were here," said Will.

"Is it my imagination, or is the message getting stronger?" asked
Philippa. Her skin was so pale that she looked almost ghostly in the
moonlight.

"It's stronger," said Clea. "Or at least, more intense. I'm still trying
to experience it more dearly."

Philippa nodded. "We're doing the right thing," she said, though whether
she was trying to encourage the others or convince herself was hard to
say.

"Do you know where we're going?' asked Will. "I mean, do you know what
we're going to do when we get to the plateau?"

"No," said Zach.

"Yes," said Clea.

He looked at her in surprise. "You're right," he said a moment later.

She smiled. The message was getting clearer.

"Can you see it?" she asked.

He nodded. Across what had been bare ground there now stretched a broad,
straight road that led directly to the plateau. Looking at it, Zach
understood that it was not really there, at least not now. But he knew,
too, that it had been, once before. As he stared at it, the road began to
glow, not so much a road but a strip of light leading to- what?

"I can't see anything," said Philippa. "What are you two smiling about?"

"It will come to you soon," said Clea. "I'm positive."

"We've got 'em," said Sean. "Those cliffs are too steep to climb in the
dark. Unless they're totally out of their minds, they'll stop right
there."

"You sound relieved," said Arkady.

"Aren't you?" asked Sean.

"I don't know," said Arkady. "I was becoming very curious. I wanted to
know what this was all about."

"You would have made a good theskie," said Sean, unable to stop himself.
"They have more curiosity than common sense, too."

Arkady stopped. "I think you spoke too soon, my friend," he whispered,
his voice filled with awe.

Sean had been facing Arkady. He turned to see what the other boy was
talking about and cried out in surprise.

The others had reached the base of the cliffs. But instead of being
forced to stop, as he had

expected, they were going on. Sean tried to swallow the lump that seemed
to lodge itself in his throat as he watched Clea approach the spot of
light that had appeared on the cliffside in front of her.

The light shimmered and grew. Suddenly it flashed, then disappeared.
Where it had been was an opening in the cliff, twice as high as Will
Mornette, twice again as wide as that.

"Clea!" cried Sean. "Wait-"

It was too late. She had entered the opening.

Sean grabbed Arkady by the arm. "Come on- let's move!"

They began to spring toward the opening. But they were too late. As Will
Mornette entered the opening, it closed behind him.

"Damn!" cried Sean.

But he kept running.

Clea watched the opening appear in the cliff with a mixture of feelings
that ranged from joy to awe to terror.

Just what are we supposed to witness! she thought as the face of the rock
disappeared to reveal the enormous opening beyond. The moonlight spilled
in but a little way. Beyond that everything was dark.

"Should we go in?" she heard Zach ask. She didn't bother to answer. She
knew they would enter. She had to. She also knew that, as terrified as
she was, if she turned away from this adventure while it was still safe,
while the world still

nearly made sense, she would never sleep in peace again as long as she
lived. The question would always be there, nagging at the back of her
mind: what was on the other side of that opening?

She stepped through. The others followed. Without a sound the opening
closed, plunging them into total darkness.

For a moment everything was confused. She heard Zach gasp in surprise.
The theskies began to gabble frantically. Philippa, who had been walking
behind her, reached out and grabbed her shoulder. Clea turned. The
glowing green of the other girl's eyes was the only point of light in a
world that had become totally black.

"Just a minute," muttered Will, "just a minute, just a minute. Ah, there
we are."

Clea heard a click. She blinked as a bright light appeared in Will's hand.

"You two were in such a hurry you took off empty handed," he said,
nodding to Clea and Zach. "I figured we might need more than just hands
and feet to get to the top of the plateau, so I grabbed my pack. I think
Philippa has hers, too."

"I do," said Philippa with a little laugh. "I was so wound up in what was
going on, I forgot I was wearing it."

She slipped off her pack and rummaged around until she found her own hand
torch. Flicking it on, she began pointing it around her. They stood in a
vast chamber. Clea estimated its

height at ten meters, and its width at twenty. Its length was unguessable.

"What is this place?" whispered Philippa.

"I don't know," said Clea softly. "Zach?"

"Not the foggiest," he said, running a hand through his brown hair. "But
I can tell you this much: it ain't natural, and it wasn't made by
theskies."

"What do we do now?" asked Will.

"Move on," said Clea. "This is interesting, but it's not what we were
called to see."

Sean stopped in surprise. At their approach the same light he had seen
before flashed on the face of the cliff and the huge opening appeared
before them. He had been sure that they would be shut out, that the cliff
would only open for those who had heard the "message."

He hesitated. He had been so concerned about getting into the cliff he
hadn't really thought about what he would do if it turned out to be
possible.

"Shall we go in?" asked Arkady quietly.

"We have to," said Sean.

"Do you ever do anything because you want to? Or is everything duty with
you?"

"Save the therapy session for later," snapped Sean as he stepped forward
and flicked on his hand torch. He flinched as the gate closed behind
them. But he saw another light ahead of him. "There they are," he said.
"Come on."

"Why not ask them to wait?" said Arkady. "We're all in this together now."

Sean shook his head. "I'll be very happy if this turns out to be all
sweetness and buttercups," he said. "But someone needs to stay on the
alert around here. If you want to join them, go ahead."

It was Arkady's turn to shake his head. "I will keep watch with you," he
said.

They picked their way across a smooth, flat floor that was covered by a
thick layer of dust. The dust was marked with the footprints of a variety
of animals, including a great number of theskies. Animal droppings were
everywhere.

"Look," said Arkady. He rubbed his foot over the floor, scraping away the
dust. The surface underneath was highly polished.

Sean knelt and ran his finger over the black, glasslike surface. "Who
made this?" he asked in wonder.

Philippa cried out in fear and surprise when the lights blazed on around
them. The illumination seemed to come from the wall, the floor, the
ceiling. Everywhere. She covered her eyes with her hands. After a moment,
as she parted her fingers and her eyes began to adjust, she realized the
light was not as painfully bright as she had thought.

"This is getting weirder by the minute," whispered Zach.

Philippa nodded in silent agreement.

The section of the passage that was lit

extended about five meters in front of them. Their hand torches had shown
them enough so that nothing they saw now was that surprising, although
the theskie skeleton to their left caused her to flinch in distaste. To
her surprise, neither Spike nor Matilda seemed disturbed by the skeleton.

"Death by natural causes," said Zach when Philippa mentioned this fact.
"I think what disturbed them earlier was not that theskies were dying,
but how they were dying."

"I agree," said Clea. She walked to the right and ran her fingers along
the wall. "Smooth," she said. "And warm."

"Smooth and warm," gabbled Spike.

Philippa started to speak but stopped and pressed her fingers against her
forehead. "The call is getting stronger," she whispered.

"I know," said Clea.

They walked on. When Will, who was walking slightly behind the others,
passed the last of the lights, the area behind them went dark again.

Philippa swung her light over the area in front of them. "I wonder what
happened here," she whispered.

It was clear something had gone terribly wrong. The great corridor was
shattered and broken. Chunks of jagged stone, some as large as a
hoverbus, lay scattered before them. The floor, so smooth since they had
entered, was now like the surface of the ocean on a rough day; from left

wall to right it was buckled and warped for as far as they could see
ahead of them.

"Come on," said Zach. "We don't have much time."

That was true; the messages said so.


CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
================



Midnight on Bald Mountain
=========================


"I wonder if the earthquakes did this," said Arkady as he picked his way
over the shattered, debris-filled floor.

"Well, it wasn't any of the recent ones," said Sean. "Look at the dust on
these chunks of rock that fell out of the ceiling. It's about the same
thickness as the dust on the floor. And from the layers of footprints
we've seen, that dust has been here for a while."

"Then how long ago do you think this happened?"

Sean shrugged. "It's almost impossible to tell. Except for when the doors
open, this place is sealed. So there wouldn't be anything to cause wear
and tear; no rain or wind or anything like that. It seems like the door
opens for anyone or anything who approaches-"

"Which indicates that whoever built it was very trusting," said Arkady.

"Not necessarily," said Sean, unwilling to let go of his suspicions, "It
could just as easily indicate that whoever built it was very powerful-or
simply that the operating mechanism somehow got locked on 'Open for
Anyone Who Approaches.'"

"I would prefer to believe the best," replied Arkady, "but what you say
is true."

"You sound like I always look for the worst," said Sean.

Arkady shrugged his broad shoulders. "Being cynical is an unpleasant job.
I appreciate the fact that you're willing to do it."

Sean hesitated, uncertain how to respond to that statement. "Anyway," he
said after a moment, "as for how long this has been here, the best
indicator would seem to be the thickness of the dust. I've been trying to
figure out where it comes from. I can't think of any way for great
amounts of it to come in. My guess is that it either filters down from
somewhere ahead of us, or it comes in with the animals when one of them
wanders through the door. Neither way would cause it to accumulate very
fast. In fact, I think the buildup would be extremely slow."

Arkady ran his foot across the floor, digging a line through the dust.
"If that's so, then this passage must be very ancient."

"I think that's likely," said Sean.

"So, compadre, what is issuing this 'call' that the others say they hear?"

"I don't know. But I don't like it." "Let's not let them get too far
ahead," said Arkady. "They may need us."

"Now what?" said Will. He played his light over a debris-strewn stretch
of floor that extended ahead of them for about five meters, then ended at
a smooth, blank wall that stretched straight up for as far as they could
see.

"Now what, now what?" cried the theskies, their voices echoing hollowly
around the baffled teenagers.

Will sagged down onto a large chunk of rock. He had been so involved in
their strange discoveries that he had forgotten how tired he was. Now
that they had stopped, it seemed to strike him all at once. Matilda came
and laid her head across his knees. He stroked her neck, enjoying the
feel of her scales beneath his fingers.

If only it wasn't so warm in this place.

He watched through half-closed eyes as Clea turned from side to side.
"There has to be a way," she muttered. "I know there's a way."

"There is," said Will lazily.

"What?"

"It's over there," he said, pointing across the rubble to a dark spot on
the side wall.

"How do you know?" demanded Clea.

Will sat up in surprise. "I saw it," he said. "Like the other messages. I
just closed my eyes, and it was there."

"Why you?" asked Clea. She sounded close to

tears. "Why didn't the rest of us get the message?"

Will winced. He could tell that what she really meant was "Why didn't I
get the message?"

"Maybe because he was relaxed," said Zach, putting his hand gently on her
shoulder. "After all, the rest of us are pretty keyed up. Remember, the
first messages came as we were drifting off to sleep. Maybe it's easier
to contact us then."

"That makes sense," said Clea.

Will noticed that her hands were trembling.

"Let's go look where Will pointed," said Philippa.

Will got to his feet, groaning slightly as he did. Clea came to stand
beside him. "I didn't mean to snap at you," she said. "1 was
feeling-well, jealous, I guess. I didn't want someone else getting a
message that I couldn't sense."

Will nodded and followed her to the corner, where they found was a wide
crevice that cut up through the rock at a sharp angle.

"Ackle!" said Spike, running up the crevice until he was out of sight,
and then back down to tug on the sleeve of Zach's boorman. "Ackle!"

"I'm coming," said Zach. "Just give me a minute, will you?" He turned to
the others. "Do you think we should tie ourselves together?"

Will hesitated. As far as he was concerned, it was a good idea. But he
didn't want to appear any more weak and helpless than he already did. So
he was relieved when he heard Philippa agree with Zach's suggestion.

Well, that was stupid, he thought, as he began tying loops into the rope
he dug out of his pack. I can't believe I was willing to start climbing
up this crevice without a rope, rather than let the others think I was
weak or scared enough to need it.

He shook his head. He was both weak and scared, and he knew it. So why
was it so important to hide the fact? He could imagine his plaque in the
Hall of the Dead: Will Mornette-2504-2520. He died with a good image.

"Ready?" called Zach.

One by one, the others answered.

They started up the crevice.

For a few terrible seconds, Sean thought he had lost them.

Then he heard the familiar gabbling of a theskie come echoing down from
the wall off to his right. Nodding to Arkady, he began clambering across
the debris that filled the cul de sac. "They went up there," he said,
shining his hand torch into the crevice.

"Are you sure?" asked Arkady. "That could be a wild theskie."

"Well, where else could they have gone?"

In answer, Arkady played his light around the rubble-filled chamber. It
was easy to imagine a passage hidden behind every stone and every pile of
debris.

"I'm a rover, rover, rover," sang the raucous voice of a theskie.

Arkady smiled. "You win," he said. "They're up there!"

They started to climb.

"I think this was a stairway," said Sean after a moment. "If you look,
every once in a while you'll see a corner under all this rubble-like
here."

He pointed his light to the right, then pushed away some small stones
with his foot. Two straight, clean surfaces met at a right angle. But
neither of them was larger than the palm of Sean's hand.

"If this was a stairway, something sure tore the hell out of it," said
Arkady.

Sean nodded. "The way I figure it," he said, "that blank wall where the
main corridor stopped was probably some kind of lift or transport system;
like an old-fashioned elevator, maybe. Then there was this stairway along
the side for emergencies, or for people who wanted to walk, or whatever."

Arkady paused. "Do you realize what you're saying?"

Sean closed his eyes. "Yeah, I know what I'm saying. We finally found
one. A hundred years of galactic exploration, space alone knows how many
planets-and we finally found another intelligent species. Only from the
looks of things, it was gone long before we got here."

Suddenly Arkady clamped his hand down on Sean's arm. His grip was so
powerful that Sean cried out in pain. "Sorry," said Arkady. He

sounded distracted, as if he barely noticed what had happened.

"What is it?" asked Sean nervously. "Arkady, what's wrong?"

The muscular boy blinked and shook his head. "I felt it," he whispered.
"The summons-the message that Clea and the others have been talking
about."

Sean looked at him in alarm.

Arkady shook his head again. "I'm all right," he said. "Just a little
surprised."

"What does it feel like?"

"Like-like a dream, I guess. I don't mean dreamy and sweet. Just that
it's kind of hazy, hard to get a hold on. I have images at the back of my
head. I know they're there. But if I try to look at them, they
disappear.'"

Sean shook his head. "I still don't feel a thing," he said. "I don't know
if I should be relieved or jealous."

"I think we're almost at the top," said Clea. "Look-you can see some
light up there."

"Ah, the light at the end of the tunnel," said Zach. "Something I've
always wanted to experience."

"Shhh!" hissed Clea. But she reached her hand back, indicating that she
wanted Zach to come and climb beside her. Crouching forward, they made
their way up the scree. It soon became obvious that Clea was right; they
were nearly at

the end of the crevice. Moonlight was pouring in through an opening ahead
of them.

Zach glanced at Clea. Her large eyes were filled with excitement. The
moonlight seemed to caress her cheeks, to catch and tremble in her hair.
For the first time he realized how truly beautiful she was.

Another few meters, and they had reached the surface. They climbed
through the opening and looked around them.

Clea's first reaction was disappointment. Both moons were shining full on
the plateau, and in their silvery-blue light she could see for a good
distance. But all she saw was a broad, flat surface strewn with rocks. To
the right, about a half-kilometer away, was the edge of the plateau.
Beyond, she could see the foothills of the Catalans, covered with thick
forest. Straight ahead, the plateau rolled on for a great distance,
farther than she could estimate. At the end reared the great line of the
Cynthians, a rocky barrier that stretched north and south as far as she
could see. In the light of the twin moons the distant, snow-capped peaks
looked strange, fascinating, alluring.

She turned her attention to her left. Less than two meters away the
plateau came to an abrupt halt at Bald Mountain, which seemed to soar up
from the edge of the plateau as if trying to scrape the stars from the
sky.

The scene was very beautiful. But it was empty.

She walked forward, shaking her head. She didn't know what she had
expected to find. All her efforts, all her thoughts, had been focused on
getting to the top of the plateau. And now that she was here-nothing.

She felt bereft-as if she'd lost something that made all the difference.
Her self-pity was interrupted by two things:

The first was the return of the message. Please come. Someone must see.
Someone must bear witness.

The second was the feel of Zach Yamoto's hand grabbing her elbow.

"What are you-"

"Shhh!" he hissed, interrupting her question. "Don't move. Don't talk."

But it was too late. The thing had seen them. As she watched in horror it
rose to its feet and began lumbering in their direction.


CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
================



A Walk Along the Edge of the World
==================================


Clea stared in terror at the enormous lizard bearing down on her. Even if
it's friendly, I'm dead, she thought, as she watched a forked tongue at
least a meter and a half long flick in and out of the creature's mouth.
All it has to do is lick me, and it's all over.

Suddenly she realized Zach was trying to drag her back toward the crevice.

"No," she cried. "It might follow us, get the others." Shaking free of
his grasp, she darted to the right.

"You're going to get yourself killed!" yelled Zach, running after her.

The lizard turned its massive head to follow their movement. It shook its
tail and started after them.

"Up here!" shouted Zach. Sprinting past Clea, he began climbing a large
rock that jutted up

from the surface of the plateau. He reached down to help her up. She
scrambled up beside him, onto a little ledge somewhat higher than her
head. A few moments later they were on top of the rock-about four meters
above the ground.

"What if it can climb?" asked Clea nervously.

"We get to count its teeth," replied Zach.

The creature was taking its time now, apparently confident its intended
dinner wasn't going anywhere.

"It's the same kind of thing we saw next to that pond, back when we were
on the hoverbuses," said Zach.

"Only 1 think it's bigger," said Clea.

Zach studied the animal for a moment. "You're right," he said. "Nose to
tail, this guy is at least twelve meters long."

Clea stepped back from the edge of the rock. Now that the immediate
danger was over, she was able to examine the approaching lizard more
closely. Despite its great length, its short legs kept it close to the
ground. In the silver-blue moonlight its scaly skin looked dark purple. A
crest ran along its back from the center of its head to a place slightly
above its hips. The crest appeared to be composed of some leathery
material stretched between about twenty long spines. The crest sagged and
lifted as the animal walked, so that sometimes the spines stood nearly
vertical, and at other moments they lay almost flat against its back.

Clea was mystified by the scraping sound she

heard, until she realized it came from the creature's tail. Long and
heavy, it swung from side to side as the beast walked, cleaving a series
of arcs through the pebbles and dirt behind it.

"Should we go down the back of the rock?" she asked.

Zach shook his head. "It's a straight drop," he said, "and once we're
down, there's really no place to go. I don't want to try to outrun him
until we find out whether or not he can reach us up here."

At the sound of Zach's shout, Sean started to run. Pushing his way past
Will and Philippa, he burst onto the moonlight-drenched plateau. It took
him only a moment to locate Zach and Clea. They stood atop an enormous
rock, clinging to one another. Crawling toward the foot of the rock was
an enormous, lizardlike creature.

The flat surface of the plateau stretched on only a short distance past
the dreadful scene, then abruptly dropped off. The light from the two
moons made everything stand out in sharp relief so that his friends
seemed to be outlined against a sheer black wall filled with stars.

He slipped his pack from his shoulders and was fumbling through it when
something shot past him crying, "Ackle! Ackle, ackle, ackle!" He looked
up and saw Spike running straight toward the monster.

The great head turned. For a moment it looked like the creature was going
to snap at the theskie,

which suddenly seemed tiny in comparison.

"Ackle!" cried Spike. "Ackle, ackle!"

Zach looked down from the rock. "Spike is trying to distract the thing!"
he said in amazement.

The giant lizard watched the theskie for a moment. Then it turned back
toward the rock and opened its mouth.

Clea felt a strange fascination. She knew that if she fell forward she
would simply disappear into that great maw, which could engulf her with a
single bite. Two great orange eyes, each as large as her head, stared up
at her. They seemed to glitter in the moonlight.

She shivered, suddenly wondering if this was the thing that had called
them to the plateau. Could this monstrosity have reached out, touched her
mind, drawn her to it?

"No!" she said out loud, startling Zach. The message must have come from
some other place.

But the lizard's eyes were so compelling.

Clea took a step toward the edge of the cliff. Zach grabbed her arm and
drew her back. "What are you doing?" he cried.

She shook her head. "I don't know. I-I thought-" Her eyes widened with
horror at what she had almost just done. "Hold on to me, Zach! Don't let
me near the edge. Don't look into its eyes."

He wrapped his arms around her, drew her close.

The great creature roared in displeasure. It was the only noise, other
than the sweep of its

tail, they had heard it make. It seemed like it might shake the stars
from the sky. Clea clung to Zach, shivering in terror, too frightened to
notice that he was shaking, too.

A scraping sound drew their attention to an enormous foot, toes tipped
with claws like carving knives, that appeared at the edge of the rock,
then slipped back down.

They backed up a step. Zach glanced over his shoulder. Another step and
they would go over the edge.

The claw appeared again, and behind it the enormous snout of their
pursuer. The great tongue flicked over the rocks, coming within
centimeters of their feet.

Suddenly the creature's head snapped back. Its mouth opened in a silent
cry. The nictating membranes began to flicker over the bulging orange
eyes.

With a slight gurgling sound, the beast slid backward, out of sight.

After several seconds of silence, Zach relaxed his grip on Clea. Taking
her hand, he stepped forward. When he realized he was half expecting the
lizard to come roaring up over the edge of the stone, like a monster in
some horror holovid, he dropped her hand. "Stay here," he whispered.

"How many centuries will it take you guys to start treating us like
equals?" she said, her voice shaking. She grabbed his arm. Together, they
took a tentative step forward.

"You can come down now," said a familiar voice.

When Zach looked over the edge of the rock and saw Sean Matthews standing
on top of the still body of the lizard, dangling a trank gun casually
from his left hand, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Clea did both.

If I act too smug they'll kill me, thought Sean, trying desperately not
to smirk as he watched Zach and Clea climb down the face of the rock.

But he felt smug. He felt powerful and competent. The others had gone off
without thinking. They had panicked. He had kept his wits, and his
equipment, together; had been ready to act when he was needed. He was
glowing inside. Keep it to yourself, Matthews, he thought.

"That was well done," said Arkady, walking up from behind.

"Thanks," said Sean. He forced himself to remember that if circumstances
were different, their positions could have been reversed. Arkady was
every bit as brave as he was. But Arkady had stumbled in the tunnel and
then had had trouble getting his gun to function. There had been no time
to wait, so Sean had taken action.

He remembered the way the other boy had pulled him back from the edge of
death in the chasm two days ago, and the quiet way in which he had
accepted their thanks. How did Arkady

feel then? Sean wondered. Were his insideson fire like this?

Zach and Clea had made a point of climbing around the fallen lizard. Now
they were standing beside its slate-colored belly, looking up at Sean.

"Come on down, hero," said Zach. "Let's get out of here before this thing
wakes up."

Sean slid down over the smooth, saucer-sized scales and landed on his
feet in front of them. "Zach's right," he said gruffly. "We can't be sure
how long this thing will stay out."

As if in response, one of the great legs twitched-a motion that would
have knocked one of them over if they had been standing too close to it.

How stupid can a guy get? thought Sean, his cheeks burning. Some triumph
this would have been, if one of us got a broken back while I was standing
up there showing off.

"Was that what brought us up here?" he asked, gesturing over his shoulder
as they began walking back toward the crevice.

Clea shook her head. "The call is still coming," she said, stopping for a
moment as a quufer scuttled in front of her. "In fact, it's stronger than
ever."

Sean sighed. Though he was still worried that they might be walking into
a trap, it seemed impossible to hang behind now that the others knew he
and Arkady had been following them.

Following the call that he still could not hear, they started across the
plateau together. As they

walked, he found himself wondering why it was so much harder to go
against the desires of the group than it was to face a monster lizard.

"Quufer city," said Zach, reaching down to pick up one of the creatures
which had begun to cluster around them in increasing numbers.

Sean had to agree. In all the time he had been on Gauguin he had never
seen such a concentration of the friendly little animals.

"It makes sense," said Will. "If what they like most is basking in the
sunshine, this plateau is a perfect place for them. It's so flat and open
they must love it."

"We make quite a procession," said Zach. "Six kids, two theskies, and a
herd of quufers walking along the edge of a plateau. I wonder what we
look like from down there."

Even as he spoke, more quufers attached themselves to the group.

"Look," said Arkady a moment later. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"What?" said Philippa.

Arkady turned toward the edge of the plateau and swept his arm out in a
gesture that seemed to take in the entire planet. "This!" he said. "All
of it! Look how beautiful it is."

He's right, thought Clea. I've been so intent on following this message
that I haven't really been seeing what's around me. This is something
that must be witnessed, too. This is worth knowing.

As she stood at the edge of the plateau, looking

out across the rolling hills, the forests, the lakes, and rivers, she
suddenly felt a pang of protective-ness for this rough, wild planet to
which she had been dragged against her will.

/ have never seen a sky so black, she thought, never seen stars so bright.

Her heart seemed to swell with an urge to know the planet, to be part of
it. The moment was interrupted by a cry from Sean. She turned and saw
that he had fallen to his knees and was clutching his head between his
hands.

"All right," he moaned, "We'll come. We'll be your witnesses."


CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
==================



The Witnesses
=============


They moved in silence now, almost as one organism. The call was strong in
all of them, seemed to grow more powerful with every step as they drew
inexorably closer to its source.

The theskies were darting back and forth in front of Clea, gabbling in
excitement. The number of quufers beside and behind the group continued
to increase.

Juliette disappeared behind a cloud, leaving only the swollen crescent of
Justine to shine on the plateau.

And then the earth opened beneath them.

It was not another earthquake. They had simply stepped onto an area that
was too weak to support them. The jolt was minor-they fell only a few
feet before they landed on a smooth slope. Unable to find anything to
grab onto, they slid, screaming and shouting, back into the plateau.

They came to rest in-a room. It was round and small, no more than three
meters across. With two theskies, six teenagers and an innumerable host
of quufers, it was far too crowded for comfort.

In the wall there was a hole.

In the hole there was a box.

And in the box there was a city.

But they didn't know any of this when they first landed in a shouting,
struggling tangle of arms, legs, and theskie necks.

Sean was the first to his feet. Convinced that the long-dreaded trap had
been sprung, he looked around, ready for danger. He couldn't find any. It
was just a room, round and small and crowded.

"Where are we?" asked Clea plaintively.

"I don't know," he said, feeling impatient. Coming here had been her
idea. Why was she asking him?

And then he felt it, an enormous sensation of relief, as if something
long feared had been averted. It came from outside, from the same source
as the summons. After a moment, he realized that it was another message.
His mind grappled with the feelings, the fleeting images, and finally
converted them into four words: Thank you for coming.

"You're welcome," he said aloud, though he had no idea to whom he was
speaking.

They were all on their feet now. Clea was the first to see the hole in
the wall. Gently pushing

aside a quufer, she moved to stand in front of it.

"This is it," she said. "This is why we were called." She reached into
the opening in the wall, a space no larger than two of their packs placed
side by side, and drew out a box made of gray metal.

"What is it?" asked Zach.

"I'm not certain," she said. "Let's take it back to the surface."

Everyone seemed to know what to do now, what was expected of them.
Shooing Spike and Matilda ahead of them, they made their way back up the
slope. The angle was steep, and climbing it was not easy. After a while
Sean and Arkady went ahead, then threw back a rope to help the others.

The quufers scrambled up the incline with no difficulty.

Juliette had come back out from behind the clouds.

Moving as if in a dream-and yet somehow, thought Sean, completely in
control, completely awake-they walked toward the center of the plateau.
They stopped when they came to a flat space, several meters across, that
was nearly a perfect circle. In the center stood a large, round rock,
also flat.

Clea placed the box on the stone. The others gathered around and watched
as she opened it.

Inside the box was a half-sphere made of the same gray metal. The surface
of the half-sphere was marked by a ring of indentations. The inden-

tations were multi-sided, as if various large crystals had been pressed
into the metal when it was soft.

Clea's fingers did not tremble as she lifted the half-sphere out of the
box and placed it on the stone. Under the place where it had rested she
found a small door. Opening it revealed a second compartment, which
contained a cream-colored bag made of soft, supple material. Clea opened
the bag. Inside were seven large crystals, each a different color.

She poured them into her hand.

Solemnly, each of her friends reached forward to take a stone. Silently,
one by one, each of them inserted a stone into the half-sphere.

When they were done the final, blood-red stone remained. Closing her
eyes, Clea placed it gently, almost reverently, into the remaining
indentation, at the top of the half sphere.

And it began.

Clea heard a tinkling of music, as of a thousand silver bells above her
head. She looked up. The sound seemed to shimmer around her, cascading in
silvery ripples.

She put out her hand, as if to grasp the music, then cried out in wonder
as a city began to tremble into view. One by one its towers rose before
her, multiplying until they filled the plateau.

She glanced at the others. Did they see it, too? They must. Like her,
they were stumbling to

their feet, turning this way and that, reaching out as if to touch a
dream.

"Is it really there?" whispered Philippa.

Zach shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "I don't know what it is. A
projection-a hallucination. Who knows?"

"Perhaps we have gone back into the past," said Arkady quietly.

At first, the flat space where they stood, the circle to which they had
brought the box of crystals, seemed unchanged. No buildings had risen
from the ground here, no streets cut across its surface.

Then Sean realized that the tiles-when had the tiles appeared beneath his
feet?-were engraved with designs. He knelt and traced them with his
fingertip. The lines seemed to burn their way into his memory, and he
realized they formed a map of some kind.

Suddenly he looked up. More messages were coming, flooding in faster than
he could receive them. His head began to swirl with images, too many to
sort out. A flood of words, unknown, alien, was washing through him. He
closed his eyes and tried to hold very still, afraid that if he tried to
move he would fall over.

Slowly, the world came back into focus. Sean could not understand the
words pouring into his skull. They belonged to another time, an alien
race. But the images-the feelings-told a story anyone could understand.
They were as human,

as real, as the five friends who stood with him in the center of the
ancient city. He decided to go explore.

Will stood in front of a building, running his hands over the crystal and
silver wall.

"It feels solid," he said.

Arkady nodded. "This is like a holovid," he said. "Only bigger than any I
have ever seen." He opened the door of the building. They stepped through
it together.

A store, thought Will in surprise. Well, why not? Surely they had stores
here.

He looked around. Unless he was mistaken, it was a bakery. And then all
at once he could smell it. The odors were like home. They were rich,
sweet, basic. Suddenly he was struck with such a sense of loss that he
slid to the floor and began to weep. "It was all real," he whispered when
Arkady knelt beside him. "It was real, so real you could smell it. And
now it's gone."

"I know," said Arkady, squeezing his friend's shoulder. "I know."

Philippa was never able to say for sure when it was that the people
appeared. When she noticed them, it seemed like they had always been
there. At first she was frightened. She huddled in a corner, staring at
the creatures. They were strange, even hideous, by human standards, with
thick orange skin and flat faces and «yes that seemed at least twice as
big as they should be.

And yet-and yet they weren't ugly at all, she decided.

It was the message throbbing in her brain that made her feel that way.

See this, and remember. Please, remember.

Suddenly she was seized with an overwhelming love for these strange
figures. She reached forward timidly to stroke the arm of the woman
closest to her. It was warm, supple, softer than she'd expected.

But the woman didn't know she was there.

Zach sat in a corner, sobbing. It was a memory. Everything around them,
all that they were seeing, hearing, feeling-a memory recorded by the last
to go, recorded so that it would not be lost forever.

But it was a memory filled with such love. These were my people. This was
my home. Do not let it be forgotten.

The message came to him not in words-the being who had made this record
had no words that Zach could understand-but in feelings that were clear
as crystal.

It was that sharing of feelings that let him see the people who laughed
and talked in the room before him not as strange, orange-skinned aliens,
but as friends and neighbors. Brothers and sisters. Family. He was
achingly aware that they had had dreams just like his own. They wanted to
do things. They wanted to be happy. They wanted to be loved.

They wanted not to die in the war that was coming.

A child, at least someone much shorter than most of the people around
him-her?-went strolling by. It had a quufer on its shoulder, a theskie
bouncing at its heels.

"Pets!" thought Sean in astonishment. "Quufers and theskies were family
pets! No wonder they're so friendly."

He shook his head. That didn't make sense. Animals wouldn't stay
domesticated that long, would they?

How long ago had all this happened?

He pressed his hands against his face. He couldn't think clearly. The
thoughts, the memories seemed to be pounding against his brain. He
wondered what it was like for Zach and Clea. They had received the first
messages so clearly. Was all this even stronger, more clear, for them?

He turned and headed back for the center of the city. Maybe he would find
out when he met them back there.

Clea knew, somehow, that what was coming next would be awful. She waited,
trembling, for the others to return. She didn't want to experience it
alone.

Zach was the first to arrive. His skin looked ashy in the moonlight. His
eyes were red from weeping. He sat down next to her, cross-legged on the
tiles, and waited. Neither of them spoke.

Arkady and Will came next. Like Zach, they approached in silence, took
their positions without speaking. Sean and Philippa completed the circle
in the same way. All of them sat cross-legged, so close that their knees
were touching.

Each of them had to look past the others to see the city, to see what
happened, next. Zach reached out and took Clea's hand. The gesture passed
around the circle until they were linked, and as ready as they could be.

Zach shuddered. Though the words flooding through him were
incomprehensible, the images and feelings told the story on their own.

Yet as the experience unfolded, he found himself trying to translate it
into words. It took him a moment to realize why. Then he understood. That
was his job. He was a witness.

He closed his eyes and watched the city he had just experienced as so
vibrant and alive slide into a trough of despair as it became clear that
the war was coming.

He shook with shared terror as the tanks rolled into the streets and the
mindwhips began to spread their poison. He wept, softly, silently, as
men, women, and children-not orange-skinned strangers, but his friends,
his family-ran gibbering into the streets while madness clawed at their
minds.

And then he was allowed to enter the madness himself. Afterward he
blanked most of that out, because it was simply too horrible to remember.

Last of all, he saw the making of The Record,

as one boy, the last in the city, crawled through the streets, using the
mind stones to save and record all that he could remember of the glorious
place he had once called home.

Zach ached for the boy, ached with him, for the power of The Record was
such that he felt as though he was inside the boy's skin, felt as though
he, too, was the last one left, and knew that he was dying.

His very arms ached as he finished the record of what had been, and
placed it in a box, in a room, deep beneath the remains of the city.

And his heart broke as he fell across the box, hoping that someday
someone would come and bear witness to the betrayal of the dream.


CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
=================



Planet of Secrets
=================


The quufers were shrieking.

The sound roused Sean. He shook his head and became aware of the others
sitting nearby. He squeezed his eyes shut. He needed time to absorb what
he had just seen, to sort through the wonder and the sorrow.

But they had no time; the messages were telling him that they had to
leave the plateau immediately.

Spike and Matilda were running frantically back and forth behind him,
crying, "Get out! Get out! Get out!"

Arkady blinked. "I think they mean it," he said. He shook Will, trying to
rouse the tall, slender boy into action. But Will looked blank, still
lost in the vision.

Arkady tried again. "I said, I think the theskies are serious."

"Serious!" cried Spike.

Suddenly Clea cried out as a wave of panic hit her-seemed to hit all of
them simultaneously.

Zach's eyes flew open. "Quake coming," he said, and Sean knew he was
right, though he could not have said how he knew.

Yet even with the clear knowledge of danger, it was hard to refocus their
thoughts. Sean was the first to shake free of the vision. Climbing to his
feet, he began to pull at the others. "Come on," he said, "come on, we
have to move." When they grumbled and resisted, he began to shout,
demanding that they get up and head for the crevice that led off the
plateau.

They stumbled into motion. The quufers swarmed ahead of them. Spike and
Matilda ran alongside, gabbling frantically.

As they ran Clea found she was still haunted by the vision that had
overtaken her; more than once she caught herself nearly tripping over
phantom images, images of things that had disappeared-how long ago? She
didn't even realize they had reached the crevice that had led them to the
plateau, until the sound of Sean and Zach arguing brought her, finally,
to full alertness.

"Come on!" said Sean urgently. "Let's move!"

"I'm not sure we should go in there," said Zach, gesturing at the
opening. "What if we're inside when the quake hits?"

"I don't get it," said Philippa warily. "Zach's right; there's a quake
coming. But why do we

know that?" She pressed her fingertips against her brow. "What's going on
here?" she asked softly.

"Let's get off the plateau now and try to figure that out later," said
Sean. He pointed at the crevice. "Look-the theskies and the quufers are
going in. I think it's probably safe."

"And if it's not?" asked Arkady.

Sean shrugged. "What will our chances be up here in a quake?"

Zach glanced across the plateau, to the great rock where he and Clea had
fled from the giant lizard. The creature's body was gone. "We may have
another problem," he said. "It looks like our girl friend woke up.
Course, if she's still up here when the quake hits, it probably won't
make one bit of difference that Sean used a trank gun instead of a real
weapon. I never could figure-"

"Zach," said Sean, "shut up!" He was done arguing. Taking Clea by the
hand, he led the way into the tunnel. The others followed. They started
out running but soon were slipping and sliding along the scree. They
reached the bottom in less than a quarter of the time it had taken for
them to climb it.

And still the message was pounding in their heads: Get out! Get out\

They stumbled frantically over the debris of the great passage, crying
out when the lights blared on in the same spot they had before.

"What do we do if the door won't open?" asked Will, as the lights blinked
out behind them.

"It has to," panted Sean, not wanting to admit that the same worry had
been twisting his own stomach into knots.

But his smile betrayed his relief when they reached the end of the tunnel
and-with another flash of light-the great door opened for them.

They raced through the opening and collapsed on the ground outside. There
they lay, panting and gasping, until Sean forced them to get up and move
on, insisting that they wouldn't be safe so close to the cliffs. When
Will collapsed again, not more than fifteen paces away from the plateau,
Sean and Arkady picked him up and carried him.

They had barely gone another thirty meters when the quake hit. The rumble
of the earth seemed to come up through their feet as the grinding sound
of the shifting tectonic plates began to fill the world.

Clea cried out in despair. Sean tried to turn to her, but the moving
earth knocked him down. She fell beside him, still staring back in the
direction from which they had come. He followed her gaze and watched in
awe as the entire plateau began to tremble. Suddenly a huge chunk of rock
separated from the edge of the cliff and crashed to the ground, landing
in the very spot he had forced them to vacate just moments before.

"The city," cried Clea, as more stones fell, and still more. "We're going
to lose the city!"

Sean could barely hear her above the roar of the shaking earth as the
plateau began to crumple in on itself.

For a moment the world was nothing but noise and shaking. Sean thought
his eardrums were going to burst. His teeth felt like they were being
shaken loose from their sockets.

And then it was over. The quake had lasted less than thirty seconds. But
it was long enough to wipe out all that remained of the ancient
civilization.

The six teens knelt together where they had fallen, staring up at the
rubble of the plateau.

"Damn," said Sean finally. "It's going to be hard to dig that place up
now."

"Is that all it means to you?" snapped Clea. "Don't you-" She stopped as
she realized the flip remark was Sean's way of covering a feeling of
intense, painful loss.

She shivered. Her understanding was not a guess, but a certainty. Now how
do I know that! she wondered uneasily.

Suddenly she felt a wrenching in her head, as if the world was turning
over. She blinked and cried out in shock. She was still sitting next to
Sean. But she was seeing the scene through someone else's eyes-actually
seeing herself next to him. Is that really me? she thought, as she stared
at a slender girl who was far lovelier than she had ever suspected,
especially now, with the light of two moons caught in her hair.

She watched herself press the heels of her hands against her eyes. The
vision vanished. She looked up in time to catch Zach staring at her with
a very strange expression on his face.

Will's voice distracted her. "You know, we've got some big problems
coming up," he said.

"What do you mean?" asked Arkady. His voice was cool, controlled.

Clea blinked and tried to focus on the conversation.

"Well, we were called to bear witness," said Will. "I think that means
we're supposed to tell people what we've just seen. But what do you think
is going to happen when we try doing that?"

Zach groaned. "It's going to be a nightmare," he said. "After the quake,
we don't have a shred of evidence. When we start talking about mysterious
calls, strange visions, and ancient alien cities, 'crazy' is the kindest
thing they're going to call us."

Clea noticed that Philippa had her arms crossed over her stomach, as if
she was trying to protect herself from something. "I don't want to tell
anyone," she said dully. "It will only cause trouble."

"Did anyone manage to bring along one of those crystals?" asked Will
hopefully.

Sean shook his head. "They were still in the projection device. And with
that quake warning coming right on top of the vision, we were just too
foggy to think of it."

"Well, we've got to talk about it anyway," said Clea. "That's why we were
brought here!"

"Now there's an interesting question," Zach said slowly. "Just who did
bring us here?"

"You saw the boy," said Clea. "The boy who made the recording-" Her voice
tapered off.

"Exactly," said Sean. "He made the recording. But he sure wasn't around
to tell us to come see it!"

Will snorted. "Is it so hard to believe that someone with the level of
technology it took to make that recording could have left a mechanism
that would broadcast a continuous call, until some sentients finally
arrived to be witnesses?"

"Sure, I can buy that," said Sean. "But I'm not sure I buy the idea that
such a device could figure out when an earthquake was coming, and warn us
to get off the plateau!"

Clea swallowed. What Sean said was true. But then where had the messages
come from, if not from the boy who had left the recording? Who had warned
them of the quake?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a whirring noise off to the right.

"A veetol!" cried Will, pointing toward a clump of lights moving toward
them through the darkened sky. "How did it know we were here?"

"I radioed in while we were still up on the plateau," said Sean, "before
I actually heard the call. You were all so wrapped up in what you were
experiencing you never noticed. But I figured someone better do it."

"Ah," said Zach, "the boy wonder strikes again."

The remark angered Sean. But as he turned to

respond, he realized that Zach had said it with admiration and fondness.

Now how do I know that? he wondered. A sudden chill rippled down his
spine as he realized, with a certainty he could not explain, that he
should not have been able to understand Zach's statement that clearly.

Before he could worry about the feeling, the veetol touched down, and he
heard the familiar voice of Katya Kovitch call: "Thank goodness you're
here! Come on-get in before the aftershock hits."

They ran for the big double doors, Spike and Matilda at their heels.

"Not them!" said the pilot, pointing at the theskies.

"We have to-"gasped Clea.

"No time!" snapped Dr. Kovitch, "Get in!"

"Witness!" cried Spike, as the door of the veetol was closing. "Witness!"

Beneath them, the ground began to shake as the aftershock hit.

Clea watched through the window as the theskies, limned in moonlight,
disappeared into the underbrush.

Later, Sean realized that he could have headed off what happened next.
But he was too tired- and too exhilarated-to think clearly right then. It
started innocently enough. They were slumped in the back of the aircraft,
leaning against each other, bound by exhaustion, the

sharing of danger, and most of all, the incredible vision that had
overwhelmed them on the plateau.

Looking them over, Dr. Kovitch said, "You six look as if you've really
been through the wringer. I'm sorry I let you take off on your own like
that."

"Oh, don't be," said Clea. "It was the best thing that ever happened to
me."

Dr. Kovitch looked startled. "There's no need for sarcasm," she said.

"I'm not being sarcastic," said Clea, her voice trembling a little. "I
mean it."

Dr. Kovitch rubbed her index finger alongside her big nose. "What do you
mean?" she asked.

Sean could sense Philippa tightening in apprehension as Clea began to
tell Dr. Kovitch what had happened. But she had barely gotten past their
fear that someone was actually hunting theskies when it became clear that
the scientist's reaction was not what she had hoped for.

"Clea," said Dr. Kovitch firmly, "Your exhaustion is letting your
imagination run wild. You were in untouched territory. No one has been
out there hunting theskies."

That's it, thought Sean. If Kovitch can't swallow that, there's no way
she's going to believe the bit about the city.

Clea must have realized the same thing, because she suddenly looked small
and frightened. Sean was startled to realize he could feel her
frustration as if it were his own. The others shifted uneasily, as if
they were sensing it, too.

Puzzled, Sean looked around the veetol and realized he felt close to
these friends in a way he had never before experienced, not even with his
parents. It wasn't just that they had shared an incredible adventure. It
was something else, something he couldn't define, something that was only
now starting to take form in the back of his head.

They flew in silence, until the pilot announced that they were nearing
Ambora.

Sean looked out at the sky. Juliette was nearly straight overhead, a half
circle of shimmering light. The smaller moon, Justine, was an open
crescent. Stars were spattered around them.

"Zach told me the air on Earth is so dirty you can barely see half this
many stars," Sean said quietly.

"Who cares about Earth?" said Clea. "People keep telling me it's our
home. Earth isn't my home. Even Galahad isn't my home anymore. Home is
where you make it. It's anyplace where you can be together with the
people you care about. Gauguin is my home now."

Sean listened to her without moving, Could this planet be home? he
wondered. He had never dared to look at the possibility before. But
suddenly he realized that even if his parents only stayed for another two
years, he would be old enough to decide whether he wanted to move on or
not. Home, he thought, looking through the window of the veetol, trying
the idea on for size.

The aircraft was so quiet he could hear the faint boom of the glowing
waves in Sanjoy Bay as

they circled over the city. Above the bay, the Tati River, sparkling in
the light of the twin moons, flowed down between the five great domes of
Ambora, which seemed to glisten softly in the moonlight. The glowglobes
were on low, but the streets that were finished shone softly with their
underlighting.

This place was more beautiful than any planet he had ever seen. But it
had secrets, more secrets than any place humans had yet stumbled onto.

Sean shook his head. What are you doing to us, Gauguin? he thought,
turning to look back toward the mountains that stretched into the
distance.

But if Gauguin had an answer to his question, it was keeping it to itself.

He sensed the others around him then, and turned away from the window.
Home, he thought again as he looked at them, his gaze drifting from Zach
to Arkady to Will, then on to Philippa and Clea. Home: where you can be
with the people you care about.

He sighed and leaned back against the wall of the veetol.

Home.

It would take him a while to get used to the idea. But suddenly, for the
first time in years, it seemed like it would be worth trying.